Nineteen Nurses statement ahead of Thirlwall Report
If guilt is the starting point, what happened to truth?
As the Thirlwall Inquiry report approaches, Nineteen Nurses asks a fundamental question: if an inquiry
examines events against a premise of guilt already established, how can it fully examine the truth?
Nineteen Nurses is a campaigning group of nurses and allied health professionals concerned that the
conviction may not be safe and that every relevant question has not been properly examined.
We recognise the devastating impact on the families and their right to answers. Yet the search for truth
must not become secondary to an established narrative.
The implications go far beyond one case. They affect nursing as a whole. Nurses need confidence that
complex clinical events will be examined fairly, without hindsight turning adverse outcomes into
assumptions of individual criminal responsibility. Recommendations must be robust, evidence-based and
capable of improving patient safety without unintended consequences for clinical practice or the ability of
nurses to raise concerns.
The Inquiry has cost a reported £18.5 million by March 2026. That investment demands recommendations
that are measured, proportionate and genuinely effective.
Lucy Letby’s case remains under review by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. If referred to the
Court of Appeal, the legal position could change. The search for truth is not necessarily finished.
Questions about evidence, causation and the safety of the convictions must not be closed simply because
a conviction has been reached. If we are genuinely seeking the truth, we must be prepared to question
every premise — including guilt itself.
Nineteen Nurses will continue to campaign for the evidence to be properly examined and for justice to
follow the truth, wherever it leads.
Nineteen Nurses
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