Nursing boss had "no qualms" about hiring child serial killer Lucy Letby
Former neonatal ward manager Eirian Powell told Letby was the "creme de la creme" of students
A nursing boss has told a public inquiry she never had any evidence of wrongdoing by "creme de la creme" nurse Lucy Letby.
The Thirlwall Inquiry into the events surrounding the crimes of Letby has heard that senior consultant Dr John Gibbs was "dithering" about reporting concerns because he was "influenced" by her line manager, Eirian Powell, saying she could not have done anything wrong.
On Thursday, the inquiry was told former neonatal ward manager Ms Powell said she had "no qualms" about employing Letby in January 2012 after she finished her training at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
The inquiry heard she told police: "I wanted her on the unit, I really did. When students come through the system you are almost able to hand-pick the creme de la creme and she was one of those."
Ms Powell met neonatal lead consultant Dr Stephen Brearey following the unexpected deaths of three babies in June 2015 and it was noted that Letby had been a "commonality" in an all three but Ms Powell told the inquiry there was "no evidence of any wrongdoing".
Following the death of another infant in October 2015 Ms Powell drew up a table of the babies who had died in that period and all the nursing staff on duty during those shifts.
Revisions of the table followed including an additional column with the names of doctors and also a fresh table with Letby's name highlighted in red, the inquiry heard.
Counsel to the inquiry Rachel Langdale asked Ms Powell: "Was there a time when you were doing that, you thought 'actually the police should be doing this, not me'."
Ms Powell replied: "In hindsight, yes I did."
She added: "Nothing changed as far as the evidence was concerned. Nobody saw anything.
"When we got busy she did the overtime so she was there more often."
Ms Langdale said: "When did you start to worry that her name kept coming up, if you did start to worry about that?"
Ms Powell said: "The question was always asked of me. Nothing changed from Dr Brearey saying he had concerns but he wouldn't define them and nothing changed from each time, 'had anyone seen anything?' or 'there was no evidence there'."
Ms Langdale said: "Unexplained dying and collapsing children, that was the evidence, wasn't it?
"Yes," said Ms Powell.
Ms Langdale said: "So looking around who was in the pool and who might have an influence on that."
"Yes," said Ms Powell.
Ms Langdale went on: "At that point shouldn't the police have been called in to investigate it?"
Ms Powell replied: "Yes."
The inquiry heard Ms Powell told her own superiors in May 2016 that there were "no performance issues" with Letby.
Ms Langdale asked whether it was an "oversight" she had failed to mention an incident in 2013 when Letby gave a potentially fatal dose of morphine to a baby which was fortunately spotted by colleagues an hour later.
Ms Powell said: "If you looked at everybody's drug incidents on the unit somebody, somewhere... I had been involved in a drug incident myself. The majority of them (the nurses) had in one way or another."
Six days later in another meeting with her bosses which included medical director Ian Harvey she was recorded as stating "absolutely no issue with nurse" and "circumstantial".
Ms Powell was also noted by director of nursing Alison Kelly to be "vociferous" in her vocal support of Letby.
She told the inquiry: "I was asked a question so I answered it."
Ms Langdale said: "Do you look back at it now and consider that you might have been more reflective in that view given what you knew around the unexpected deaths of babies and the concern you must have had looking and finding the same name?"
Ms Powell replied: "Yes, I think it would have helped."
Following the deaths of two triplet boys in June 2016 the consultants did not want Letby back on the unit but Ms Powell said the majority of the nursing staff did not feel she was responsible..
Letby later took out a grievance procedure, the inquiry has heard, over her removal from the neonatal unit in July 2016 as Ms Powell told interviewers in that process that she was "one of my best nurses" and that Letby was "100% innocent".
She also referred to consultants being "brainwashed" by their colleagues.
Peter Skelton KC, representing families of Letby's victims, said: "You were not clear about the causes of the deaths of these children, the doctors were concerned there was a pattern of deaths which were highly unusual and you were not in a position to rule out natural causes?"
"No," said Ms Powell.
Mr Skelton said: "The key was that you had senior doctors coming to you with concerns and they couldn't find rational causes for these children's deaths but they had found a common factor. That should have been enough to make you suspicious that the babies were being harmed?"
Ms Powell said: "On reflection, yes."
Richard Baker KC, representing other families of Letby's victims, said: "The moment suspicions began to be raised about the possibility that there was a murderer on the ward, the only appropriate thing to do was to call the police?"
"Yes," said Ms Powell.
Mr Baker suggested that Letby was a "particular favourite" of Ms Powell.
Ms Powell said: "Not at all, I didn't have favourites. That was not part of who I am."
Ms Powell said she did not go to staff social events because she wanted to "remain impartial" in her management role but accepted that she to went London with Letby and other nurses to see The Bodyguard in 2013.
She told the inquiry: "We didn't all go obviously. Somebody has to stay behind to do the shifts."
The inquiry heard that Ms Powell had said Letby was "quirky, but then I like quirky".
Mr Baker said: "Did you have a particular connection with Letby?"
Ms Powell said: "No, we are all different. It takes a certain personality to work on the unit. Over the years that I was there it was the quirky ones that actually survive the unit. Quirky is different from the normal, perhaps seeing things a little differently."
Mr Baker went on: "The fact of the matter is when it came to Lucy Letby you favoured her, you gave her favourable treatment?"
Ms Powell said: "No not at all in the slightest."
At the beginning of her evidence the inquiry heard Ms Powell wanted to express her "sincere condolences" to all the parents and families for the loss of their children and harm suffered.
Asked by Ms Langdale if she wanted to add anything, Ms Powell said: "I don't think anything I could say would alleviate the pain that they continue to endure throughout this process and beyond."
Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016.
The inquiry is expected to sit until early 2025, with findings published by late autumn of that year.