C.diff boss in court fight for £250,000

THE hospital boss who presided over Britain's worst superbug scandal is taking her compensation claim to the High Court, the Standard can reveal today.

Rose Gibb left Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust by "mutual consent" in October last year after 90 patients died from Clostridium difficile. Her lawyers will go to the High Court on 24 January to try to force the trust into awarding Ms Gibb a "golden goodbye" of around £250,000.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson blocked a six-figure payment to Miss Gibb after the outbreak between April 2004 and September 2006. The amount was reduced to £75,000 half the former chief executive's salary.

Talks between Ms Gibb's trade union Managers in Partnership and the trust are understood to have stalled because she refused to accept the payment.

A source close to the case said: "This is a complex and political case which is why it has reached the stage of fixing a court date. But there's still a chance this could be settled before then it's a case of who blinks first."