The scapegoating of Lucy Letby

Nineteen Nurses was founded in the aftermath of Lucy Letby’s conviction because her case exposed a crisis in how the NHS and wider system treat frontline staff. Instead of addressing structural failings—chronic understaffing, unsafe working conditions, and poor management—responsibility was laid on one nurse.

We believe this scapegoating does not make patients safer. In fact, it endangers them by silencing nurses, fostering fear, and discouraging staff from speaking out when things go wrong. Every healthcare worker should be concerned by what has happened: if systemic failures can be ignored in favour of criminalising an individual, then no nurse is safe from becoming the next target.

Our mission is simple: to defend the integrity of nursing, to protect patient safety by amplifying nurses’ voices, and to challenge a culture that punishes those at the bedside while shielding those in power. We call on unions, colleagues, and the public to recognise that the safety of patients depends on supporting, not scapegoating, nurses.

Nineteen Nurses was founded in the wake of Lucy Letby’s conviction because her case exposed something deeply troubling about how the NHS and the justice system treat frontline staff. Rather than interrogating systemic failings, it became easier to single out one nurse. We came together to ensure the profession has a collective voice when these failings are unfairly placed at our door.

For many nurses, her conviction has bred fear and mistrust. Day-to-day, it translates into defensive practice, anxiety over being second-guessed, and a sense that we are working under a cloud of suspicion rather than professional trust.

The fact that expert evidence challenges the basis of Lucy’s conviction, yet she remains behind bars, demonstrates that nurses are not protected by the principles of fairness we should be able to rely on. If this can happen once, it can happen again.

NHS staff make difficult decisions every day under huge pressure and with limited resources. To know that their professional judgement might be criminalised—even when evidence is uncertain or contested—should be deeply alarming to anyone working in healthcare.

Fear silences people. When staff believe that raising concerns will bring punishment, they stop speaking up. That means unsafe conditions, short-staffing or clinical risks are left unchallenged, which directly undermines patient safety.

Nurses should never be afraid to advocate for patients, but the culture of retaliation is so strong that many feel their jobs or reputations are on the line if they speak out. The result is a dangerous silence where lessons are not learned, and patients suffer.

It is rare and important when a nurse successfully challenges the authority of consultants. Lucy’s grievance victory demonstrated that even those at the bottom of the hierarchy can expose unfair treatment. It is virtually unheard of for any nurse to take a grievance against one consultant. To win this grievance against a multitude of consultants is frankly astounding.

However, her later treatment shows just how threatening it is to speak up against senior figures. The lesson for nurses is mixed: yes, you can win against authority—but you may also pay a devastating personal price for doing so.

It’s essential because frontline nurses are carrying the burden of failings they did not create. Chronic understaffing, unsafe environments and poor decision-making at management level are not the fault of nurses, yet we are the ones punished when things go wrong.

By writing to the unions, we are demanding that they confront these realities on behalf of their members. Sadly, the response has been cautious, even muted. While there have been words of concern, few unions have taken the bold, public stance we believe is necessary. Nurses need their unions to be fearless advocates, not quiet observers.