Thirlwall travesty: unions must act!

The Thirlwall Inquiry was a sham. It reaffirmed the wrongful conviction of Lucy Letby for murders that never took place, disregarding the overwhelming evidence that she is innocent. Thirlwall’s recommendations give the NHS bosses a green light to ramp up their bullying and scapegoating of staff, under threat of criminal proceedings. These measures are a serious danger--to nurses, patients and to the whole working class.

The NHS unions must wake up: defend Lucy Letby! The Thirlwall recommendations portray nurses as a danger to patient safety and set them up for victimisation, including criminal conviction. Thirlwall’s assertion that “suspicion is enough” means that, if her proposals are implemented, NHS bosses will be empowered to investigate a member of staff purely on a whim and report them to the police without a shred of evidence. It is unacceptable for the unions to remain silent on this. Lucy Letby languishes in prison on the basis of a gut feeling among consultants, who reported her to the Cheshire police.

Thirlwall also proposes the use of “Cot cams”, supposedly to safeguard babies from the danger posed by health workers. Working under increased surveillance will ratchet up the intimidation and bullying of nurses that are already rampant in the NHS. Silencing nurses endangers patient safety! These measures are intended to cover up the real source of danger to us all: the utterly broken system of maternity and neonatal care that has led to the deaths of countless mothers and babies in Nottinghamshire, Cheshire and beyond.

It is high time NHS unions stood up and defended Lucy Letby. Support for her is high among health care professionals, including union reps, who know how the tyrannical NHS system works. Among the general public, sentiment is growing that she was wrongfully convicted. Activists must organise within the unions, in opposition to the current spineless leaders, who are tied by the apron strings to the Labour government. Defending Lucy Letby is a vital step towards patient safety. It is also an essential step to ending the toxic work environment that makes life hell for nurses and all staff. If the unions had been doing their job, she would not be locked up today.