A hospital boss last night admitted he considered resigning over a BBC documentary that exposed appalling conditions and standards.

Peter Coles, chief executive of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, said he had taken part in "a lot of heartsearching" in the wake of the Panorama programme.

But he decided against quitting because he felt it would not aid the continuing battle to raise standards at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Mr Coles was barracked yesterday by an audience member at the trust's annual public meeting at the Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath.

Cynthia O'Neill asked him: "Why as chief executive did you not bother to visit the 'factory floor' or see the most important people in the hospital - the patients?

"These are the people who pay your big fat salary. The buck stops with you and you should quit and get rid of those nurses. The camera doesn't lie."

Mr Coles said he had been aware of problems on Peel and Stewart wards months earlier following several complaints from members of the public.

But they had been "substantially sorted" by the time the documentary was screened in July.

Mr Coles added: "If I felt there was a good reason for me to resign I would have done so."