Salisbury hospital is being penalised thousands of pounds for poor performance - in spite of having met all its targets.

Under government rules, hospitals are grouped into "health communities". If one member of the community fails to come up to scratch, the others share in the punishment.

Wiltshire Health Authority has been fined £300,000 for falling short of its targets over the last three months.

A substantial part of the penalty will come straight out of the coffers of blameless Salisbury District Hospital. Chief executive Christopher Mould described the financial penalty as a "significant blow".

If Salisbury's health community, which comprises Wiltshire, Dorset and Southampton health authorities, fails to meet its next round of three-month targets it will face a further fine.

Mr Mould said: "We are determined to do everything we can to help our health community to meet the targets next time.

However, some of the targets are getting increasingly challenging to achieve."