Hospital boss fails in compensation claim
THE head of a NHS trust that was at the centre of the UK’s infection outbreak in which 90 people died has failed to win a compensation claim over losing her job.
Rose Gibb is said to be reviewing her legal options after a compensation claim for £175,000 was rejected by Mr Justice Treacy.
She quit her £150,000-a-year post as chief executive of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust in Kent just days before the organisation was heavily criticised in a report in October 2007 on the spread of clostridium difficile on overcrowded and dirty wards.
She had filed the compensation claim, arguing that because she left her post by mutual agreement, she was entitled to a £250,000 severance package, with £175,000 compensation and £75,000 notice pay. The Department of Health only paid her notice pay after there was a public outcry over the agreement.
Ms Gibb said the ruling had been made on a “contentious and complex point of law”. She is now taking further advice from her lawyers and union, although it is unclear whether she will appeal against the decision on her compensation claim.