Ex-CEO Susan Gilby awarded 1.4m in damages after tribunal finds she was unfairly dismissed from Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
‘The idea that I would walk away and allow things to continue in a way that was going to lead to patient safety and staff issues, in return for effectively a bribe, was just utterly unacceptable to me – so I put everything on the line to continue to be honest.’
Susan Gilby (pictured above), the former chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, was not going to compromise her professional standards. The consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care recalls the moment, in 2022, when she was offered a 16-month ‘non-job’ to walk away quietly from the concerns she had been raising.
This week, she was awarded 1.4m in damages after an employment tribunal ruled she was unfairly dismissed. It is one of the largest settlements of its kind in NHS history.
Dr Gilby says being offered a payout in return for her silence was ‘utterly shocking’.
She now feels vindicated for her decision and is encouraging doctors to feel confident to blow the whistle when they have patient-safety concerns and not be deterred if they face barriers.
Speaking to The Doctor, she says: ‘When it was clear that I wasn’t going to stop raising concerns, and I was trying to get [the trust] to take action to improve the situation, I was told it was time for me to go and that I needed to accept the deal. And if I didn’t accept the...
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