£175,000 NHS boss pay-off slammed

Kim Hodgson spent five years as the chief executive of East Sussex Hospitals Trust - the body which runs the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards.

However, she has decided to leave and will stand down with almost immediate effect, instead of serving an agreed 12-month notice period.

But despite it being her own decision to leave the post, she is set to benefit from the bumper one-off payment, equivalent to a whole year's wages.

The decision by the trust's board to sanction the spending has been roundly criticised, with MP Michael Foster demanding the cheque be stopped.

He branded the payment "outrageous" and has vowed to take the matter up with his colleagues in the department of health.

Miss Hodgson was unavailable for comment, but a spokesman for the trust defended the pay-off, stating the money was her contractual entitlements and no more.