Letby trust CEO was forced out by ‘self-interested’ chair, tribunal finds

A foundation trust CEO was unfairly forced out of her role, after whistle blowing about the bullying behaviour of its chair, a tribunal has ruled.

Susan Gilby was CEO of the Countess of Chester Hospital Trust from 2018 until she was suspended and excluded from the premises in December 2022.

The events unfolded at a hugely consequential time for the hospital. Dr Gilby, a former intensive care consultant, joined as medical director in August 2018. But she was made acting CEO shortly after, when her predecessor Tony Chambers was forced to leave, amid a rift with paediatricians and others over the Lucy Letby case.

As she approached four years as CEO, the tribunal found Dr Gilby was the subject of a coordinated campaign instigated by chair Ian Haythornthwaite and carried out by chief people officer Nicola Price and two non-executives. The campaign was dubbed “Project Countess” and was “designed to protect the [chair] and manoeuvre [Dr Gilby] out of the trust”.

It was launched after Dr Gilby began raising concerns with directors in spring 2022 about Mr Haythornthwaite’s “confrontational and aggressive behaviour”.

The tribunal commented on Mr Haythornthwaite becoming angry with junior staff about the refurbishment of the trust offices while the “struggling organisation” faced “an erosion of public faith” in the trust against the backdrop of “a multiple murder inquiry”. This, it said, was “indicative of a chair prioritising his own self-interest above that of the trust and failing to work collaboratively with the CEO and staff”.

In summer 2022, Dr Gilby raised her concerns directly with Mr Haythornthwaite, who refused suggestions of mediation, and reacted angrily, banging his desk.

In September of that year, Dr Gilby “was subjected to concerted, aggressive and unjustified verbal attacks at the private board meeting [which] were not ’shut down’ by the [chair] when he could have and should have done so” according to the tribunal.

The tribunal found “on the balance of probabilities” the chair and two NEDs “had agreed before the meeting that [Dr Gilby] would be personally criticised and held accountable for [the trust’s] financial position and steps taken to remedy it”.

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Source: HSJ, 14 February 2025