TAMESIDE Hospital's chief executive has responded to calls for her sacking by saying critics should judge her by her track record.

Christine Green says that while she deeply regrets failings in quality of care of elderly patients, the hospital could also claim many successes over the years.

She said: "I think it's really important my track record here speaks for itself. We've done an awful lot of good things over the last seven years at Tameside.

"We've increased numbers of doctors and nurses, we've improved our performance around cancer care and coronary heart disease.

"Our maternity and paediatric services are excellent and our obstetrics outcomes are some of the best in the north west."

The Advertiser visited Mrs Green at the hospital's headquarters on Darnton Road, Ashton, to ask her how she can ensure that patients' confidence is restored.

She said the hospital would be putting in place every recommendation made in the report by Dame Pauline Fielding and Liz Craig, including retraining of staff, better communication with patients and families and the abolition of mixed-sex bays and toilets.

"What we've got to try to do is to make sure those practitioners who have, perhaps, been guilty of the omissions we've heard about are actually better prepared to fulfil their objectives around basic nursing care," she added.

While some have blamed staffing levels and pressure to meet targets for the hospital's problems, she denied this was the case, saying staffing levels were similar to other comparable hospitals and 20 more nurses had been taken on in the last financial year.

And she said she hoped once the hospital achieved foundation status - the hospital will be applying again once the revised action plan is in place - issues around patient care would be eliminated.