Lucy Letby gave baby morphine overdose by ‘error’

Nicholas de la Poer KC, counsel to the inquiry, asked Ms Farmer whether this was an unavoidable error.

She replied: “No, if it wasn’t prescribed I don’t know why it was given.”

Mr. de la Poer asked him if this “demonstrated a poor view” of Letby, who replied “perhaps” yes.

Ms Farmer was also asked about a review of Chester’s neonatal unit by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in September 2016, two months after Letby was removed from clinical duties.

In a statement to the inquiry before her testimony, Ms Farmer said some of the questions from that review left nurses “distraught and tearful”.

When asked why this was so, Farmer said: “When Lucy Letby was removed we all felt under suspicion and if it hadn’t been Lucy it could have been one of us.

“We just didn’t know and I think we felt like we weren’t supported by senior management at that time.

“We were disappointed with the lack of communication. We were told we couldn’t talk to our colleagues about this.”

She added that they received “no support from doctors” and that the situation left them “very stressed and very emotional.”

Letby, from Hereford, was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others, including one she tried to kill twice, and is serving 15 life sentences.

The investigation continues.