THE board of a Kent hospital trust rocked by resignations in the wake of a damning C-diff report has been filled with three new members.

Three non-executive directors have been appointed to the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, starting on Monday.

They are Sylvia Denton, a former president of the Royal College of Nursing, Anthony Jones, a former director of human resources for Jaguar and Philip Wynn Owen, director general of strategy and pensions at the Department for Work and Pensions, who lives at Tonbridge.

George Jenkins, interim chairman of the trust, described the appointments as "truly first class".

He added: "We now have one of the most experienced nurses in the country, one of the top HR managers, and one of the top financial and policy experts on our board and we are really lucky to have them."

The appointments follow vociferous criticisms of hospital management and board members after the Healthcare Commission published its report into C-diff infections over two years.

Three board members stepped down in November after the trust witnessed the resignations of its chief executive, Rose Gibb, chairman, James Lee and director of nursing, Bernard Place.

There was then widespread criticism when it emerged the board members stepping down were not in post during the C-diff scandal which is believed to have contributed to 90 deaths, between April 2004 and September 2006.

Another two board members came to the end of their terms.

But an event to find new non-executive directors saw hundreds of people express an interest.

The new non-executive directors were selected by the Appointments Commission, a Government agency specialising in the recruitment of board members for the NHS.