Latest news with #Gilby
Sky News
24-02-2025
- Health
- Sky News
Hospital chief was 'concerned about wrongful conviction' after Lucy Letby's arrest, inquiry told
The chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital was worried about a "wrongful conviction" after Lucy Letby was arrested, a public inquiry has heard. Tony Chambers was said to have had concerns about Letby's initial detention by Cheshire Constabulary in July 2018 over several unexplained and unexpected collapses of babies in the hospital's neonatal unit, according to Dr Susan Gilby. Dr Gilby joined the Countess of Chester as the new deputy chief executive and medical director weeks after Letby's arrest, and said she had a "quite bizarre" discussion with Mr Chambers at that time. Giving evidence to the Thirlwall Inquiry into the events surrounding Letby's crimes, Dr Gilby said she expected the hospital's executive team would be "absolutely reeling" that a staff member had been arrested on suspicion of committing multiple murders and attempted murders "under their watch". She said: "What I found, and what Tony wanted to discuss with me, was his concern that actually he still believed, despite the arrest, that no deliberate harm had been caused. "He kept repeating that there was no single cause found, and I said to him 'well it's not for you to find the cause, you have unexpected and unexplained collapses and deaths of patients and even one of those is a cause of concern'. "And he just was very focused on the worry that the paediatricians may have caused this nurse harm, and his worry was a wrongful conviction. "But he was still confident, even though she had been arrested, there would be no progress and there wouldn't ultimately be a charge." Letby was moved out of the neonatal unit to non-clinical duties in June 2016, shortly after consultant paediatricians told bosses they feared she may be deliberately harming babies. 3:06 Hospital executives, including Mr Chambers and then medical director Ian Harvey, opted to commission several independent probes into the increased mortality. Police were not called in to investigate until May 2017. Dr Gilby said she sensed that both men believed the paediatricians were wrong about their concerns, and that no evidence of deliberate harm had been found in their reviews. "On a number of occasions it was said to me, [the paediatricians] were just looking for somebody to blame," she said. "They just felt the paediatricians were unable to accept they weren't the best and so when outcomes were poor they were looking for somebody to blame. "I was being given the impression that I had some 'problem doctors' that needed dealing with." Dr Gilby later replaced Mr Chambers, who stepped down in September 2018. Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted across two trials at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016. Earlier this month an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists told reporters that bad medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths. Their evidence has been passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, and Letby's legal team hope her case will be referred back to the Court of Appeal. The public inquiry will reconvene at Liverpool Town Hall on 17 March for closing submissions, and the findings of Lady Justice Thirlwall are expected this autumn.
Sky News
24-02-2025
- Health
- Sky News
Hospital chief was 'concerned about wrongful conviction' after Lucy Letby's arrest, inquest told
The chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital was worried about a "wrongful conviction" after Lucy Letby was arrested, a public inquiry has heard. Tony Chambers was said to have had concerns about Letby's initial detention by Cheshire Constabulary in July 2018 over several unexplained and unexpected collapses of babies in the hospital's neonatal unit, according to Dr Susan Gilby. Dr Gilby joined the Countess of Chester as the new deputy chief executive and medical director weeks after Letby's arrest, and said she had a "quite bizarre" discussion with Mr Chambers at that time. Giving evidence to the Thirlwall Inquiry into the events surrounding Letby's crimes, Dr Gilby said she expected the hospital's executive team would be "absolutely reeling" that a staff member had been arrested on suspicion of committing multiple murders and attempted murders "under their watch". She said: "What I found, and what Tony wanted to discuss with me, was his concern that actually he still believed, despite the arrest, that no deliberate harm had been caused. "He kept repeating that there was no single cause found, and I said to him 'well it's not for you to find the cause, you have unexpected and unexplained collapses and deaths of patients and even one of those is a cause of concern'. "And he just was very focused on the worry that the paediatricians may have caused this nurse harm, and his worry was a wrongful conviction. "But he was still confident, even though she had been arrested, there would be no progress and there wouldn't ultimately be a charge." Letby was moved out of the neonatal unit to non-clinical duties in June 2016, shortly after consultant paediatricians told bosses they feared she may be deliberately harming babies. 3:06 Hospital executives, including Mr Chambers and then medical director Ian Harvey, opted to commission several independent probes into the increased mortality. Police were not called in to investigate until May 2017. Dr Gilby said she sensed that both men believed the paediatricians were wrong about their concerns, and that no evidence of deliberate harm had been found in their reviews. "On a number of occasions it was said to me, [the paediatricians] were just looking for somebody to blame," she said. "They just felt the paediatricians were unable to accept they weren't the best and so when outcomes were poor they were looking for somebody to blame. "I was being given the impression that I had some 'problem doctors' that needed dealing with." Dr Gilby later replaced Mr Chambers, who stepped down in September 2018. Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted across two trials at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016. Earlier this month an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists told reporters that bad medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths. Their evidence has been passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, and Letby's legal team hope her case will be referred back to the Court of Appeal. The public inquiry will reconvene at Liverpool Town Hall on 17 March for closing submissions, and the findings of Lady Justice Thirlwall are expected this autumn.
Telegraph
15-02-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Letby hospital forced whistleblower out of her job, tribunal rules
A former NHS boss and 'whistleblower' at the hospital where Lucy Letby murdered seven babies was bullied out of her job, an employment tribunal has found. Dr Susan Gilby became chief executive at the Countess of Chester Hospital in September 2018, two months after Letby was first arrested, the Liverpool tribunal was told. Dr Gilby, a consultant anaesthetist, told the tribunal that despite navigating the Covid-19 pandemic and improving the running of the hospital, she encountered difficulties when Ian Haythornthwaite, a former BBC accountant, became chairman of its board in 2021. She claimed she was 'harassed and intimidated' by Mr Haythornthwaite, whom she accused of putting the financial security of the hospital before patient care. She later 'blew the whistle' about her concerns about him and was suspended before she eventually resigned from her job in 2022. Now her claim of unfair dismissal has been upheld. Judge Dawn Shotter, who chaired the tribunal, ruled that Mr Haythornthwaite and three other senior figures at the hospital worked together to remove Dr Gilby from her post. Dr Gilby is expected to be awarded more than £1 million in compensation. She told the hearing that in 2022 Mr Haythornthwaite launched a 'fierce verbal attack' upon her during which he 'banged his hand on the table' to emphasise things he claimed were 'wrong' with her, according to Mail Online. She said his alleged behaviour was 'bullying, pure and simple', adding that the board was obsessed with imposing cuts at the hospital which, she felt, compromised patient safety. At one point, she said, after she returned to work after a period of being signed off with stress, a non-executive director told her it was 'time to go'. By then, the Letby trial at Manchester Crown Court had begun and she felt it was an inappropriate time to leave. She was formally suspended in December that year. Dr Gilby said: 'I believe that I was pushed out of a role that I wanted to dedicate the last years of a 30-year unblemished healthcare record to because I had blown the whistle on the controlling and bullying behaviour of the leader of a group of finance specialists, many of whom are still in post at the Countess, and were hell bent on putting finances over patient care.' Speaking after the tribunal verdict, Dr Gilby said the last few years had been 'nothing short of torture at times', adding: 'My career has been taken from me with no justification and the financial losses we have suffered are significant.' She added that she had put her 'faith in the judicial system' after refusing to compromise her integrity. Mr Haythornthwaite, 65, said: 'I have made the decision to step down with immediate effect from my role as chair of the trust.' A spokesman for the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said it acknowledged the outcome of the tribunal and would review the judge's findings. Letby, 35, was convicted of the murder of seven babies and attempting to murder seven more in the hospital's neo-natal unit between 2015 and 2016.
BBC News
14-02-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Countess of Chester: Chairman plotted to oust hospital boss
A hospital chairman conspired with other senior figures to oust the chief executive after she accused him of bullying and harassment, a tribunal judge has ruled. Dr Susan Gilby was found to have been unfairly dismissed by the Countess of Chester Hospital, where she was in charge from 2018 to 2022. Judge Dawn Shotter found chairman Ian Haythornthwaite and three other senior hospital figures worked together on "Project Countess", whose aim was to remove Dr Gilby from her post. A hearing to determine the compensation award will be held in May, with salary, pension contributions and legal costs expected to cost the trust millions of pounds. The tribunal described the chairman of the trust, Ian Haythornthwaite, as an "inaccurate historian" who "did not give credible evidence". He was found, along with three others, to have made what was described as "an attempt to mask the behind the scenes machinations" that were being made to remove Susan Gilby "to build the appearance of performance and misconduct allegations".The chairman, non-executive director Ken Gill and the human resources director Nicola Price exchanged private email address and WhatsApp and phone numbers to discuss Project Countess. The failure of Mr Haythornthwaite to disclose emails and other correspondence between them "points to a deliberate intention to hide documents" which would have shown his "true part" in Dr Gilby's departure, the tribunal found. It was also "more likely than not" that he was involved in the deletion of other relevant documents. 'Glowing appraisals' Susan Gilby, a consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care, was appointed chief executive of the trust in September 2018, two months after Lucy Letby had been arrested. She had received glowing appraisals and been praised for her role leading the trust through the Covid-19 pandemic. But Dr Gilby told the tribunal that, in the months after Mr Haythornthwaite was appointed as chairman in 2021, she became concerned with his behaviour. She told the hearing that at a July 2022 meeting with him, Mr Haythornthwaite had "launched into a fierce verbal attack" on her, "banging his hand on the table at various junctures to emphasise the points he wanted to make". She added: "He focused repeatedly on what he said was 'wrong' with me. His behaviour was threatening and upsetting. It was bullying, pure and simple."The breakdown in relations between Mr Haythornthwaite – a former BBC accountant – and Dr Gilby led to the creation of the Project Countess group, which also included Ros Fallon, another non- executive director. 'Sham case' Dr Gilby was offered a payoff if she dropped her allegations of bullying and harassment against the refused to do so, describing it as "an absolute red line for me," adding: "If this means there can be no settlement agreement then so be it."In December 2022 the trust suspended Dr Gilby, citing what the tribunal found were 14 "unspecified allegations... that could not amount to any act of gross misconduct". The trust has never laid out the detailed reasons for her suspension, instead it "built up a sham case" against her, ruled employment judge Shotton. 'Significant financial losses' Dr Gilby resigned days after her suspension and launched legal action against the trust. In a statement to the BBC she said that the last few years "had been nothing short of torture at times". "My career has been taken from me with no justification and the financial losses we have suffered are significant," she said. She said she was "not prepared to compromise my integrity so I put my faith in the judicial system". "I hope that this judgement will give others the courage to do so. The time for these behaviours to be acceptable within the NHS is over," she added.A hearing to determine damages will be held in May. Salary, pension contributions and legal costs are expected to cost the trust millions of Haythornthwaite remains chairman of the Countess of Chester trust. Ken Gill, Ros Fallon and Nicola Price have all left. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
