Letby Hospital: Maternity failings at the Countess of Chester

Letby Hospital: Maternity failings at the Countess of Chester

July 21, 2026 · 37 min

About this episode

The episode investigates serious failings in maternity care at the Countess of Chester hospital, linked to the case of nurse Lucy Letby.

The quality of maternity care in hospitals across the country has been in the spotlight following a series of scandals. On File on 4 Investigates families allege serious failings of care at the Countess of Chester maternity unit - the same hospital where neonatal nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering and attempting to murder 14 babies. We speak to families about their experiences and ask what implications the quality of maternity care could have had on the Letby case. Presenter: Stephanie Hegarty Producer: Ben Robinson Production Co-ordinators: Tom Dunster and Tim Fernley Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Editor: Tara McDermott Details of organisations offering information and support with traumatic birth or child bereavement are available on the pregnancy related issues page at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline

People in this episode

Host: Stephanie Hegarty

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Countess of Chester, BBC Radio 4

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