NATIONAL experts have been brought in to tackle problems at Colchester General Hospital.

Health regulator Monitor has stepped in to make sure the hospital trust improves by asking it to create plans to increase care and improve its finances.

Two health experts have been brought in to advise staff and offer support.

An urgent care division has been created to oversee A&E and the emergency assessment unit to ensure they do not go over capacity and enough staff are available.

The trust hopes to recruit nurses to fill a 141-vacancy void.

Last month, the trust was rated “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission after an inspection found serious problems in A&E and emergency assessment. It had serious concerns about staffing levels, patient safety and the time patients were left to be treated.

Trust chairman Peter Wilson said it started making improvements as soon as the commission first inspected the two units in November.

He said: “The trust is fully focused on working with partner organisations to improve its emergency care and financial performance on a sustainable basis and is working hard to build on progress we’ve made in recent months.”

Dr John Heyworth, a former president of the College of Emergency Medicine, has stepped in to offer clinical advice and support.

Dr John Coakley, former medical director of Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, is advising the trust’s board and will support Dr Angela Tillett, who next month takes over as medical director.

Colchester Hospital University Foundation Trust will pay the experts for their time and advice.

A spokesman refused to say how much would be paid but said their help was being backed byMonitor and NHS England.

Nurses will continue to be recruited from abroad, but in the long-run, the trust will work with Anglia Ruskin University and Essex University to recruit nurses.

! Residents and patients can find out how the hospital is performing when its board of directors meets on Thursday at 2pm in Training Rooms South, near the main entrance l.

To submit a question in advance, email info@colchester hospital.nhs.uk