ANY severance payment offered to former Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust chief executive Rose Gibb, has come a step closer to being blocked.

Health secretary, Alan Johnson, said during a visit to Maidstone Hospital that legal advice, taken by the Department of Health, showed the trust had not followed the correct procedures in relation to the payment, which is believed to be as high as £400,000.

Mr Johnson is still battling to halt any severance pay for Miss Gibb, who stepped down a week before the Healthcare Comission report into C-diff rates at the three trust hospitals, was published.

He took the action as he was "appalled" at what had happened at the trust, which led to such high numbers of people becoming infected with C-diff.

Mr Johnson said: "The legal advice I have had clearly shows the trust did not follow due process in getting all the approvals for the severance pay."

The trust has now referred all the relevant papers relating to the payment to external auditors and will await their advice before any final decision on the payment is made.

Following the controversy over Miss Gibb’s payment, all hospitals and Primary Care Trusts across the UK are being issued with new guidance about when and how to award severance payments.