Â£165,000-a-year hospital chief executive accused of fiddling cancer waiting times resigns Dr Gordon Coutts, who is on sick leave, will not return to Colchester Hospital University NHS Trust by â€˜mutual agreementâ€™ Police are investigating claims that staff were â€˜pressured or bulliedâ€™ by managers to alter cancer waiting times in order to meet national targets By Louise Eccles and Sophie Borland and John Stevens Gone: Dr Gordon Coutts, who is on sick leave, will not return to Colchester Hospital University NHS Trust by 'mutual agreement' The chief executive of a scandal-hit hospital under investigation over the manipulation of cancer waiting times has resigned. Dr Gordon Coutts, who is on sick leave, will not return to Colchester Hospital University NHS Trust by â€˜mutual agreementâ€™. It comes after the Mail revealed he was personally alerted to allegations about the manipulation of data as early as 2011, but failed to act. Police are investigating claims that staff were â€˜pressured or bulliedâ€™ by managers to alter cancer waiting times in order to meet national targets, potentially putting lives at risk. The Â£165,000-a-year boss has been accused of having a â€˜fixationâ€™ on government targets and presiding over an â€˜oppressive and bullyingâ€™ leadership. His personal assistant quit amid claims he had bullied her and made her job unbearable. He will now be eligible for a Â£10,000-a-year pension and a Â£5,000 lump sum, despite only serving as chief executive for three years. Yesterday, Dr Coutts said in a statement: â€˜I regret that there have been problems in the trust's cancer services. â€˜As chief executive I always took my responsibility for what happened in the organisation very seriously. â€˜I am sorry that some of our patients were let down and that what has happened may have damaged local people's confidence in their hospitals.â€™ He said it was an â€˜extremely difficult timeâ€™ for the trust as it sought to â€˜rebuild the confidence of patients, the public and stakeholdersâ€™. Last month, the trust was put in special measures following a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report which found â€˜inaccuraciesâ€™ with waiting times data relating to cancer treatment. Staff told inspectors they were bullied into changing figures to make it appear they were being treated within national guidelines. Cover-up: Police are investigating claims that staff at the hospital were 'pressured or bullied' by managers to alter cancer waiting times in order to meet national targets, potentially putting lives at risk The watchdog said the cover-up caused â€˜undue delaysâ€™ in treatment, some of whom waited four months â€" double the national target â€" for vital drugs. NHS England has now launched an investigation involving the files of as many as 25,000 cancer sufferers who underwent treatment at Colchester over the past three years. Tim Roberts, regional organiser of Unison, said: â€˜Dr Coutts should have resigned weeks ago. â€˜He was the leader of the organisation and was ultimately accountable for patient safety. Dr Coutts' personal assistant Mandy Tapfield quit last month after 28 years at the hospital, claiming her 'life was made hell' â€˜I am very proud that it was Unison members who blew the whistle about what was going on in cancer services after management tried to bully them into changing the data and threatened them to keep quiet about the dodgy practices. â€˜It seems that some critically ill patients did not receive the appropriate treatment at the right time because of the falsification of data. â€˜We hope the trust board will move quickly to recruit a new permanent chief executive who can lead the organisation out of the mess.â€™ Last month, patient John Campbell told the Mail how he contacted Dr Coutts in 2011 after a nurse told him openly in front of other patients that she had heard records were being altered. But rather than act on the information, the chief executive sent an astonishing reply saying he would only investigate if the patient had evidence of wrongdoing. It also emerged his personal assistant Mandy Tapfield quit in October after 28 years at the hospital, after her husband claimed he had â€˜made her life hellâ€™. Her husband Paul, 59, said she had reported the alleged bullying to health watchdog Monitor. Dr Coutts was also criticised for juggling his demanding role at Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust with his own management consultancy business. Last year, he received dividends of Â£20,000 from Coutts Consulting Ltd, which advises the health industry on how to improve performance and leadership.