The trust is set to close a contract for the new PFI hospital

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said on Friday that Rose Gibb and chairman James Lee had agreed this was the "right moment for her to move on".

Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark said the move came ahead of a critical report on superbugs that was due out next week.

Mr Lee said: "Rose leaves the trust in significantly better shape than she found it." The Kent NHS trust has not commented on any report.

Surrey NHS boss Glen Douglas, chief executive of Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust, will take over at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells while a new boss is appointed.

'Extreme concern'

Mr Clark said: "The trust isn't making an explicit connection, but we are expecting a report next week, and I understand that it's going to be devastating about the trust's handling of hospital infections."

He also said the trust was in "the final straits" of a private finance initiative (PFI) to build a new hospital at Pembury.

He said: "Within six months they should be signing the contracts and starting work, so I'm extremely concerned that this change in management at the top shouldn't affect the progress."

And he added: "We desperately need this hospital.

"If this is about hospital infections, part of the reason is because of the decrepit hospitals we have already - so the new Pembury hospital is the solution and shouldn't be holding up the plans."

'Never easy'

The health trust statement said Ms Gibb had successfully guided the PFI, for which a contract should be closed early next year.

It said Ms Gibb had "inherited a troubled organisation, zero-rated, in significant deficit, and badly in need of organisational change".

And it continued: "Under her leadership, performance has improved, financial control has been strengthened and patient care is better."

Ms Gibb said: "Being the chief executive of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells has never been easy and at times it has been really hard.