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".
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.
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.
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.
