Twelve people have applied for the £180,000 a year chief executive job at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.

The deadline for applications has passed for the top job, which will become vacant when NHS trouble-shooter Antony Sumara leaves the post in the summer.

Trust spokeswoman Charlotte Garrity told the Express & Star that interviews could start later this month or early next month.

The trust manages both Cannock Hospital and scandal-hit Stafford Hospital, which has been at the centre of a public inquiry into poor standards of care.

The job is being advertised at a salary level of £180,000 although this could be higher for what the trust has termed an “exceptional candidate”.

The trust says that the right candidate needs to be capable of bringing about “cultural change” at Stafford Hospital. It adds the new chief “will be expected to bring about significant organisational, cultural and performance improvements embedding a patient-focused culture through which standards will continually be raised”.

Mr Sumara was brought in to try to turn around the hospital in August 2009 just months after the damning Healthcare Commission report that March.

He always said his time at Stafford was temporary.

The new chief executive will also have to deal with the fallout from the Francis Public Inquiry, which is expected to publish its findings later this year. Trust chairman Sir Stephen Moss said the new boss would need to build on the “excellent foundations” established by Mr Sumara during his time as chief.

“Our priority is to find someone with equally strong values regarding the quality of patient care, and who can demonstrate a clear longer-term commitment to lead the trust through the challenges ahead,” he added.