Colchester's hospital bosses called an urgent summit after its accident and emergency unit almost came to a “standstill”.

Colchester General Hospital has missed its target of treating 95 per cent of A&E patients within four hours in four out of the last seven months.

Managers discovered the problems escalated because about 100 patients were in hospital beds, despite not requiring urgent treatment.

Bosses are concerned because the hospital missed the target in June, July and August – traditionally the quietest months for hospitals.

Talks have been held with the ambulance service and community health providers to alleviate the problems, ahead of the usually busy winter months.

Evelyn Barker, the hospital’s interim chief operating officer, said: “We have seen unprecedented demand, issues with staffing levels and some old-fashioned ways of working, which I believe we can tackle ourselves.

“We had become bed-blocked and came to quite a standstill.”

Full story in today's Daily Gazette