HEALTH secretary Jeremy Hunt met bosses at the crisis-hit Colchester General Hospital.

Mr Hunt met with the Turner Road hospital directors today to discuss how the hospital could be turned around before having a no holds barred roundtable discussion with ten members of staff, at which no hospital bosses were invited.

The visit came after the hospital was plunged into ‘inadequacy’ by the latest damning Care Quality Commission.

After an inspection of A&E and the emergency assessment unit, inspectors found a number of patient safety and dignity concerns as well as problems with staffing levels and the length of time patients were waiting to be treated.

In the emergency assessment unit , inspectors found “significant concerns” and pointed to “significant delays due to ongoing surges in patient demand”.

Speaking exclusively to The Gazette after the meetings, Mr Hunt said: “I wanted to see for myself how the hospital is doing.

“It is clear staff are working incredibly hard here.

“There is a terrific new leadership in place and they are doing everything they possibly can to turn the hospital around and get out of special measures.”

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