Barnet Hospital has just weathered its most turbulent month after being labelled one of the worst in Britain.

It has been a tough six weeks for Barnet Hospital's chief executive. But given just three months to save her job after damning NHS league tables, Liz Heyer has come out fighting.

Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, was 'named and shamed' as one of only 12 in England to collect zero stars out of a possible three in new NHS performance ratings. Management was given a stark ultimatum by Health Secretary Alan Milburn: improve by Boxing Day or be sacked.

"Of course it puts a lot of pressure on me personally and my managers and on staff on the ground floor," Miss Heyer said this week.

"My concern is looking to make sure that patients understand that we take this very seriously and are trying everything we can to improve. The ratings were not making a comment on the clinical services we provide."

Critics agree the league tables do not lay enough emphasis on the clinical performance of hospitals but instead focus mainly on access targets. Supporters argue the time it takes for patients to get treatment is equally important as the time spent in hospital.

Miss Heyer is right to worry about pressure on staff. Stephen Blackburne, consultant orthopaedic surgeon, recently told the Times Group< morale was at its lowest since he joined the hospital in 1976.

"It is very upsetting for staff who are working very hard. Yes, access is important but what is equally important is the quality of service you get when you walk through the door," said Miss Heyer.

Just how far the hospital has come was examined last night during an inaugural scrutiny meeting involving Barnet Council and the borough's Community Health Council (CHC). Precisely how much improvement the trust has to show by Boxing Day has not yet been finalised but Miss Heyer remains adamant it is moving in the right direction.

Of the two areas where ratings described the trust as 'under-achieving' waiting times for breast cancer patients and operations cancelled on the day they were due it is only the latter which is causing a headache.

The ratings allow a maximum of one per cent of operations to be cancelled on the day. Barnet's score was 4.5 per cent it is now 2.6 per cent. Breast cancer waiting targets have been met since March, Miss Heyer said.

In the areas where the hospital was described as 'significantly under-achieving' outpatient waits and budgeting there is still work to be done. The trust, currently £584,000 in the red, hopes to break even by April next year for the first time since it was formed two years ago.

But by Miss Heyer's own admission the trust is struggling with outpatient waits and "a lot of work" needs to be done to ensure no-one waits more than 26 weeks for their first appointment.

"The performance ratings are six months old," said Miss Heyer. "I believe we can honestly and genuinely demonstrate that we are making progress and taking the ratings seriously.

"I am very proud of the services our doctors and nurses provide at the hospital. I think they are as good if not better than anywhere else and I would be perfectly happy for myself and my relatives to receive treatment here."