Addenbrooke's Hospital doctors lobby for Dr Keith McNeil's return

The NHS trust which runs Addenbrooke's Hospital has a deficit of about £1.2m a week

Doctors at a major NHS hospital are to lobby for the reinstatement of a chief executive who has resigned.

Dr Keith McNeil has led Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge since November 2012 and stood down on Monday saying it faced "serious challenges".

The hospital was running a deficit of £1.2m a week and chief finance officer Paul James also resigned.

About 200 doctors met on Tuesday to discuss the resignations believed to be linked to a report due out next week.

A Care Quality Commission report following an inspection is due to be published on 22 September.

In a statement, Dr McNeil said he was convinced the Cambridge hospital provided some of the best patient-care in Europe despite its financial challenges.

Dr Keith McNeil said the hospital faced "a number of very serious challenges"

Many of the consultants now want to lobby for the reinstatement of Dr McNeil.

In an official statement, neither Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust nor Dr McNeil gave a reason for his resignation.

The trust's finances were being investigated by Monitor after the hospital introduced a £200m computerised patient record system last year and one of its doctors, Myles Bradbury, was convicted for sexually abusing child patients.

Jane Ramsey, chairwoman of the trust, thanked Dr McNeil "for his efforts",

David Wherrett is now acting chief executive officer at the hospital.