by Mary Graham

Former hospital boss, Rose Gibb, will have her appeal case to try and claim her £250,000 severance package heard early next year.

Miss Gibb, was head of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, but left her job just days before a damning Healthcare Commission report was published into C-diff outbreaks at its hospitals, linked to 90 deaths over two years.

In April, Miss Gibb failed in her bid to secure the money, after a judge ruled in favour of the trust, who said it did not have the legal powers to make the deal and refused leave to appeal the decision.

Miss Gibb challenged that and earlier this year the Court of Appeal ruled she could appeal, but that appeal should only be confined to the issue of whether the payment was legal for the trust to make, or not.

Her union confirmed this week that in November this year, a hearing will take place, where Miss Gibb’s counsel will ask the appeal court to widen the grounds on which she can appeal.

Jon Restell, chief executive of her union, Managers In Partnership, said: "Rose Gibb was given assurances by the trust that the Compromise Agreement was valid and above board.

"Compromise Agreements are used a lot, especially in the public sector and employment lawyers are watching this case with interest.

"This year will be taken up with the legal arguments around the case and we expect the appeal, on whatever grounds, will be heard in February."