The boss of Bradford's debt-ridden hospitals stepped down after a senior medic planned a vote of no confidence in him, it has emerged.

David Jackson, chief executive of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, announced this week he was taking early retirement from his post.

But at a meeting of hospital governors, Mr Jackson revealed a proposed vote of no confidence from senior doctors had been the catalyst for his decision.

He spoke as nurses at Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospitals announced a protest rally against bed cuts and job losses.

Mr Jackson, 57, told governors last night: "When we met just over two weeks ago I did not anticipate this week I would be announcing my retirement from Bradford Teaching Hospitals and the NHS.

It was always my intention to leave the trust before my 60th birthday.

"The decision is not sudden but the timing is sooner than I anticipated at the last board of governors meeting. Just after that meeting there was a proposal to hold a vote of no confidence in me by the chairman of the Medical Staff Committee. This was the catalyst, although that was retracted and no vote of confidence took place.

"The prospect was one of endless speculation about my position as chief executive. I think that kind of speculation could be damaging to the trust, to morale and to myself."

Speaking after the meeting, Dr Philip Bickford Smith, who chairs the Staff Medical Committee, which consists of more than 100 consultants and senior medical staff, said: "There remains a lot of disquiet among senior clinicians because the message from the last board of governors' meeting showed a long period of austerity was planned. We will make every effort to maintain standards within the resources with which we are provided."

He added: "There were a lot of concerns about the way the proposed ward closures were being announced. The general feeling was that decisions were being made without enough involvement from clinicians.

"I wrote to Peter Garland (the new interim chairman) expressing a wish to take a formal sounding of senior staff. In the end, after further discussions with both the chief executive and the chairman we decided not to proceed along that line."

He added: "Clearly Mr Jackson has done a marvellous job over the long period he has been a chief executive and it's very unfortunate that the last year has been marred by this financial problem."

Hospital workers are mounting their protest in Centenary Square on Saturday against plans to axe an elderly care ward at St Luke's Hospital and half the beds from a gynaecology ward at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals Unison senior convenor Amandeep Singh said: "We are concerned about the impact these closures will have on patient care in Bradford. It will cause disruption and even if some of the beds are provided elsewhere, people will have to be ferried around.

"We do not feel the dedicated level of care will be there because we cannot see how the maths work out."

Staff who fear for their jobs are also protesting against proposed re-deployments and redundancies.

"We know about 15 staff on C2 will have to be re-deployed or potentially made redundant and about 15 staff on the gynaecology ward. The levels of anguish it's causing among staff is considerable."

In response to the protest, a spokesman for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: "The current reconfiguration of wards is intended to improve services to patients and reduce costs. It is part of the modernisation of the NHS and reflects the increasingly primary care-led service with fewer patients requiring in-patient care and much shorter lengths of stay."

She said staff were regularly briefed about the financial situation.

"The probable loss of stars is the performance ratings this year is not due to "bad accounting" but to the forecast overspend of £11.3 million which the trust is working hard to reduce," she added.

Last night Mr Jackson told governors the forecast out-turn will be within the £11.3 million overspend, with income currently exceeding expenditure .

The finishing touches are still being put to next year's budgets and the next stage of a recovery plan but Mr Jackson said 95 per cent of the contract between the trust and Primary Care Trusts, which had previously been disputed, have now been agreed.

The meeting also heard a disputed bill from financial consultants Alvaraz and Marsal, which probed the trust's finances before Christmas, will be paid, and that the trust had negotiated a small reduction in the bill, which had amounted to £150,000.

Mr Jackson added: "I have thoroughly enjoyed my job as chief executive. Over the last few days I have had enormous support from the board of directors, colleagues, medical staff, governors and some patients."

Mr Jackson said when interim chairman Peter Garland was appointed last year, they agreed that 2006, when the recovery plan was in place, would be the right time for him to move on.

But the chief executive's plans were overtaken by subsequent announcements of ward closures and job losses.

Interim chairman Peter Garland said: "David has a long and distinguished record of service in the NHS and a long period as chief executive in Bradford."

He added: "There are now 50 per cent more consultants working in this trust than five years ago."