Reports earlier this week suggested the west Londoners would consider trying to offload - or even sack - Barton, who has three years left to run on his contract, but Hughes has pledged not to make any rash decisions.
Mark Hughes: "We are waiting to hear on Joey Barton's punishment.
"He is facing a long ban and we have to take stock of the situation. We are awaiting the verdict of the FA and the disciplinary process will take its course.
"As a manager there are 10 other players you have to think about, then 10 who played on against Manchester City.
"We stayed up. It's a relief. And now we start again. This is not all about Joey Barton.
"When I said no team of mine will be in this position again I meant it," the Welshman said.
"Since we've been in the building it has been about creating the standards and behaviour we expect. Now we are ready for the next level.
"In the past, I have signed Vincent Kompany [at Manchester City], Christopher Samba [at Blackburn] and Moussa Dembele [at Fulham].
"They all increased in transfer value playing in those teams. I am seeking similar quality for QPR.
"I am excited about what we can achieve here. The players I want to sign need to know we have plans to be a top club.
"I spent my career playing for big clubs and I want success. I am hungry and ambitious.
"There will be buys and sales. When we walked through the door, there were a lot of players who hadn't figured before and who haven't made an impression on me and my staff.
"They'll move on, they want to play. I want to strengthen, but I believe in buying players before you sell. I don't want to weaken us before we get stronger."