It’s unlikely the families of the babies Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering at the Countess of Chester Hospital will get any closure from today’s Thirlwall Inquiry report. Public inquiries generally don’t offer victims closure, even though many of them campaign for one to be set up in the hope of just that. They often lead to far less change than campaigners have asked for – and that is particularly so in the NHS. In this case, though, there is still a live debate about the convictions themselves, which means even less closure.

The inquiry finds serious dysfunction in the hospital that should have been prevented. Lady Justice Thirlwall said: ‘My report describes dysfunctional management and governance; a gulf between hospital leadership and clinicians; and failure to understand the fundamentals of safeguarding.’ But she also described an ‘inexcusable’ failure to follow........

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