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| Lucy Letby |
Families of several of the infants Lucy Letby attacked have stated that the investigation should have the authority to compel potential witnesses to come forward.
After the nurse was found guilty of the charges at a hospital in Chester on Friday, a separate investigation was mandated.
However, the attorneys for two of the families claimed that this investigation needed to be statutory in order to have "real teeth" because it does not go far enough.
The investigation, according to the administration, attempted to make sure that lessons were learnt.
After a 10-month trial, Letby was convicted guilty of murdering seven babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016 and trying to kill six more.
In two attempted homicide cases, she was found not guilty, while the jury was deadlocked on six other cases.On Monday, she will be sentenced.
Separately, an investigation will now look into the circumstances surrounding the actions that took place before the neonatal nurse killed the babies and attempted to kill them.
On how successful the non-statutory inquiry will be in scrutinizing the case, there is disagreement on its announcement.
The law firm Slater and Gordon, which is representing two of the families, stated that a non-statutory inquiry "is not good enough" and that the hospital, NHS, and larger medical community needed to learn from the incident.
As a non-statutory investigation, the firm explained in a statement, "it must rely on the goodwill of those involved to share its testimony and does not have the power to compel witnesses to provide evidence or production of documents."
Labour'sSamantha Dixon, a City of Chester MP, told the BBC that a judge should preside over the investigation and noted that, as things stand, the investigation will depend on "the goodwill of witnesses to attend."
Dr. Caroline Johnson, a Conservative MP, stated she disagreed and supported the current strategy.
Dr. Johnson, a consultant pediatrician and MP who serves on the health select committee, argued that lessons needed to be learned promptly and that, if additional authority was required, the government may opt to call a legislative inquiry down the road.
She said on BBC Radio 4's Today program, "I understand that people can't be compelled in quite the same way, but I would hope that people would still come forward."
In his experience, non-compliance has not been an issue, and people are "ready and willing to cooperate," according to Dr. Bill Kirkup, who has led non-statutory evaluations for other maternity units.
According to the BBC, the patient safety investigator noticed several common characteristics.between the Letby case and the assessments he'd done, including managers who were charged with prioritizing "protecting reputations" above attending to staff complaints.
Following the verdict, the Countess of Chester institution NHS Foundation Trust stated it was "extremely sorry" the crimes took place in its institution and that "significant changes" had been made to its services.
Letby's bosses at the hospital at the time, former chief executive Tony Chambers and former medical director Ian Harvey, have declared they will fully cooperate with the investigation.
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