Lucy Letby: Baby’s deterioration was unexpected, fellow nurse tells jury
A colleague of nurse Lucy Letby has told a court she was surprised whenever she came back from the break to discover a child suddenly getting therapy that is urgent.
Ms Letby is accused of trying to murder the lady that is premature known as Child G, 3 x at the Countess of Chester Hospital in September 2015.
She denies murdering seven infants and wanting to murder 10 others.
The colleague, whom may not be named, told Manchester Crown Court the baby’s deterioration was “unexpected”.
The court has heard the infant had projectile vomited after 02:00 BST on 7 2015 and her stomach appeared “purple and swollen” september.
The jury was shared with her oxygen amounts dropped and she stopped breathing several times throughout the next few hours before she responded to aid that is breathing air flow.
The prosecution alleges Ms Letby, originally of Hereford, overfed Child G with milk by way of a nasogastric pipe or injected air to the tube that is exact same.
‘Almost impossible to understand’
Her colleague, who was the infant’s designated nurse, stated she offered Child G a feed that is routine of of breast milk via pipe prior to going on her break plus the infant had been stable.
She told the court she came back to locate Child G was indeed moved to your care that is intensive and was surrounded by staff.
“I wouldnot have gone,” she stated if I became concerned.
“as an example, if she had not tolerated her feed or woke up upset. if she looked unwell or her monitor was alarming or”
“There were staff with [Child G] in addition they said she have been unwell while I had been on my break.”
She told prosecutor Simon Driver the infant’s condition was “unexpected… I left her and there was not any observations on her chart which caused me any concern” because she ended up being fed and settled when.
But, she agreed with Ben Myers KC, defending, that she was not been trained in intensive care at that time so her duties on the could have been accordingly passed to Ms Letby evening.
The court later heard from Ailsa Simpson, who had been the nursing change leader.
She said the feeling regarding the device that is neonatal been “calm” and Child G had appeared in “good condition”, but she had later heard the child suddenly vomit at 02:15 as she had been sitting with Ms Letby at a medical section metres away.
The”large was said by her milky digested vomit” was “loud enough to hear” and had “gone from over the cot as well as on to a chair close to her”.
An alarm had been stated by her also sounded, signalling the baby’s air levels and heartrate had dropped, and she and Ms Letby immediately visited the area.
Ms Simpson stated she sat the youngster up and a nose and mouth mask ended up being used to help because of the child’s breathing, as another colleague went along to necessitate help.
Mr Myers questioned the precision of her memory of the change alongside statements she had built to police years later.
He place it to Ms Simpson she accepted that she did not have “images in her head” for all your activities and had been referring to notes, which.
She agreed that their suggestion that “seven years after the event, it’s nearly impossible to understand… how long something took” was “fair”.
The prosecution alleges Ms Letby made two attempts being further murder son or daughter G on 21 September.
The jury has formerly been told the child survived but suffered irreversible mind harm and was kept having a amount of conditions, including quadriplegic palsy that is cerebral.