Hospital boss in bug row starts £175,000 pay-off appeal

Rose Gibb left her job ahead of the Healthcare Commission's report

The former boss of a Kent hospital has begun an appeal to claim a £175,000 severance payment she says she is owed by the trust following her departure.

Rose Gibb left her job days before a report into a clostridium difficile outbreak at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust was released.

It concluded the infection was the main cause of death for 90 patients in 2007.

Ms Gibb's breach of contract case is being heard at the Court of Appeal and is expected to last two days.

The High Court initially rejected her claim against the trust, but she was later given permission to take her case to the Court of Appeal.

Rose Gibb said she was "demonised" by the press and used as a scapegoat in the Healthcare Commission's report.

She said she only resigned because she was relying on the trust honouring its £250,000 pay-off agreement, of which she has only received £75,000 for leave notice.