David Loughton: "Sad to go."

He said: "You don't do this job if you want to be popular.

"But to blame everything on one person is a bit difficult to take."

Mr Loughton, who has been in the job for 16 years, came under fire following a critical report into patient care at the Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry.

The Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) found "serious" areas of concern.

Its report described trust management as aggressive and said some hospital staff felt too intimidated to speak out about problem areas.

The Walsgrave now has to wait for a second report by the CHI which could order an external management team to supervise the day-to-day running of the hospital.

'Despicable' comments

A newspaper survey last year also claimed the Walsgrave cardiac surgery unit had the highest mortality rate in the country.

Although management mounted a strong defence of the unit - pointing out surgeons had to cope with higher than expected numbers of emergency admissions - MPs again criticised Mr Loughton.

Mr Loughton said some of the criticism in the wake of the heart surgery figures had been "despicable".

He pointed out MPs should understand the "drip-drip" effect of their comments on the morale of staff.

Asked about his feelings on resigning, Mr Loughton said: "I will be sad to go. But to a certain extent I wouldn't be human if, after the beating I have had to take, it did not have an effect on you."