SHOCKED management at Medway Maritime Hospital have been issued with a list of "live or die" targets, after a national survey branded the hospital one of the worst in England.

In a message fired to senior administrators and doctors — leaked to Medway Today — Medway's NHS Trust's chief executive Jan Filochowski says that following the damning Government report his "head is on the line".

He says: "As senior accountable managers yours also have to be too."

The re-vamped £60 million hospital received no stars out of a possible three in an assessment of 21 indicators including waiting lists, cleanliness and staff.

Mr Filochowski has defended his hard-hitting memo, saying it was essential that the trust got over how essential the targets were.

He said: "The memo was followed up by a meeting with staff in which I made it clear I have every confidence in the staff... Staff were very appreciative. It was meant to highlight how important the targets are that can mean being tough on the one hand and supportive on the other."

Mr Filochowski's three-page memo, entitled "Changing Our Star Rating:_LIVE_OR_DIE_TARGETS", lists 16 specific areas where improvements have to be made — but makes no mention of extra cash being made available to do the job.

The abrupt nature of the document and its implied threats sent to "First Responsibility" and "Live or Die Associated Responsibility" personnel have not gone down well with staff.

One who wrote to us anonymously said: "It might best be summarised as 'if I lose my job, I will make sure you all go with me'."

Among the objectives is the need to achieve a "star rating" for the number of deaths among patients who have been in hospital for under 30 days.

Mr Filochowski writes: "Do everything possible to ensure that the rate recorded remains within target limits, in particular by ensuring that only those deaths are coded which are genuinely unexpected (ie excluding elective operations for ITU — Intensive Treatment Unit — patients etc) and taking action on any problem highlighted."