Thank you and goodnight - NHS style

Rose Gibb, ex Chief Executive of the NHS trust at the centre of the C-Dif scandal, is to receive a £75,000 payoff. You may recall that at the height of the fatal outbreaks in Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, Health Secretary Alan Johnson stood before Parliament to decry any payout, insisting that he would personally intervene to make sure Miss Gibb's original £400,000 would not be paid.

During a recent conference "up north" I was told by a local authority Chief Executive that it was not even possible to withhold payment from an employee who was arrested - and subsequently convicted - of a string of horrific serial killings. It seems treason is the only reason such an agreement can be broken.

Surely these contracts should revoke any entitlement to a payout in the case of incompetence or misconduct? For the sake of the dedicated staff, for all those who died, their friends and their families, isn't it time to look at the law again?