an nhs safety expert has told the bbc that letby�*s crimes might have been picked up earlier if a system recommended 20 years ago had been in place. greater manchester gp harold shipman was convicted in 2000 of murdering 15 patients. the subsequent inquiry called for a system of medical examiners essentially, experts who examine all deaths to spot unusual patterns. but they were only brought in this year. meanwhile, the father of one of the nurse beverley allitt�*s victims says — 30 years on — lessons still need to be learned. gill dummigan, who's the health correspondent for north west tonight,
250 of his patients. that recommendation was made in 2003, 20 years onto those examiners are just being introduced. do you think that would've made a difference here? i think it might've made a think it might�*ve made a difference, yes. if somet had asked if cold questions, at least somebody would have had to look harder at those —— if somet he had asked difficult questions. somebody should have said, there is something very wrong here. gilli something very wrong here. gill dummigan, bbc northwest today. as the legal process concludes they will be two main themes going forward. 0ne as you heard there, the independent inquiry into lucy letby�*s offending, whether it could've been stopped soon, and what is done to protect patients in the future, but also the fact that lucy letby refused to appear in the dock today to hear those sending remarks by the judge, to today to hear those sending remarks by thejudge, to hear those today to hear those sending remarks by the judge, to hear those victim
at least somebody would have had to look harder at those. and it's entirely possible that at some point what should have happened would have happened, which is somebody should have said there is something very wrong here. gill dummigan, bbc north west today. asa as a result of that, questions are once again being asked about what could be learned from this case and what should change to give patients safety in the future. earlier, i asked conservative mp steve brine, chair of the social care select committee. i asked him what they would be trying to do to make sure any changes are made. the public and to be reassured and confident in the system, and therefore the inquiry is absolutely critical in doing that. it could be sometime before it gets under way. potentially they are investigating
left distressed and disbelieving. lucy letby was meant to care, instead she killed. andy gill with that report. in the last hour the health minister helen whatley has been giving her reaction to the conviction of lucy letby. she's announced a public inquiry — and says the central question is why the hospital took so long to stop her. doctors repeatedly raised their concerns and that did not lead to the action being taken that you would have expected. this is one of the things that clearly the inquiry should look into. the chair of that inquiry will set the scope of it but that is definitely something where there are questions to be answered. well, let's go to the countess of chester hospital now. our health correspondent gill dummigan is there. gill, as the ministerjust said the trust has big questions to answer about the time it took for letby to be removed from the special care baby unit.
you know, you will have had a flu vaccine or a covid vaccine delivered in a gp setting or in a school hall. with cancer vaccines, exactly the same thing can happen — this is walk in, have a jab, walk out — and that can be rolled out across the country. back at clatterbridge, adrian's results are looking good. the fact that the latest scans have shown that the cancer�*s virtually disappeared, i think it far exceeds everyone's expectations — certainly mine. it's saved my life, basically. gill dummigan, bbc news. still to come on breakfast, we'll take you on a trip to bass rock in the firth of forth — home to the world's largest colony of gannets. look at those! it just looks like snow, doesn't it? last year the population was decimated by bird flu — and we've been back to find out how they're doing, 12 months on. hopefully it's a good story. time now to get the news,
positive effects was to accelerate and increase our understanding of vaccines. that leap in understanding has now led to clinical trials which use vaccines to treat many types of cancer. the early results are promising and — as gill dummigan explains — could revolutionise the way the disease is treated. ten months ago, adrian was told that he had incurable cancer, with few options for treatment. it is devastating news to anyone and...at the time i was 53 years of age, and you think, i've onlyjust started going, started living. and i've young children — what are they going to do without me? what's my wife going to do? and it's terrifying. adrian had just finished several gruelling months of chemo and radiotherapy for tonsil cancer, but it had spread to his lungs and was growing quickly. he was then offered a place on a clinical trial at the clatterbridge cancer centre.