Kingston Hospital says it has not gagged five former employees who signed non-disclosure agreements in the past five years.

They were part of severance packages valuing between £5,000 and £30,000.

Two fell into the highest compensation bracket of £20,001 to £30,000, according to a Freedom of Information request.

The hospital declined to reveal the names of those subject to the agreements, put in place between 2007 and 2010.

A Kingston Hospital spokeswoman said: “The confidentiality clauses we have relate to maintaining patient and staff confidentiality – there are no ‘gagging clauses’ preventing disclosure of public interest concerns.

“There is nothing preventing any former employee raising issues of concern.”

Four compromise agreements, which prevent possible future complaints to employment tribunals, have also been struck between the hospital and outgoing employees since 2010.

They did not include non-disclosure agreements but did protect patient confidentiality, the hospital’s response said.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt criticised the use of compromise agreements last month, saying the NHS needs to foster a “culture of openness”.

Laurie South, chairman of Kingston Labour, said: “I will go with Jeremy Hunt, an unusual place to be. I don’t agree with them because they do create, especially in the public sector, that kind of hushing up.

“In the public sector you’re entitled to the truth because you’re paying.”

But he did not agree longstanding non-disclosure agreements should be dropped. He added: “You have made those deals and in a way, the world has moved on.”

Nora Pearce, Unison vice-chairman at Kingston Hospital, said: “They are paid out of the public purse so in principle I would say they all should be able to disclose anything that they thought was detrimental to the patients.”

She said she was confident hospital employees could come forward with any problems.

A spokeswoman for the NHS South London Commissioning Support Unit, which now works for the Kingston Clinical Commissioning Group, said no non-disclosure agreements were imposed at the former Kingston Primary Care Trust (PCT) after April 1, 2011.

Your Healthcare, responsible for human resources for Kingston PCT before that date, said none had been enacted in the past five years.