A “BOX-TICKING” Government agenda is behind the decline in standards at Colchester’s hospitals, Lib Dem MP Bob Russell has claimed.

Mr Russell made his comments in the Commons, as he asked Health Secretary Andy Burnham to make a statement on Monitor’s sacking of health trust chairman Richard Bourne.

Mr Russell said he had been “appalled” by revelations about the trust’s performance and believed managers were being forced to concentrate on bureaucracy at the expense of patient care.

Mr Russell said: “I think what we are witnessing here is the consequence of a box-ticking, target-driven agenda, imposed on hospitals by a Government which has lost its way.

“There can be no excuse for what we are now reading about – but I think it gives an explanation as to the culture under which the National Health Service, at local level, is now forced to function.”

However, Mr Burnham responded by telling MPs it was Government targets which had exposed the failings at Colchester’s hospital trust in the first place. He added: “Monitor had raised a series of concerns over a period of time, and has concluded they have not been adequately addressed.”

He confirmed similar disciplinary action would not be taken against other hospitals with worse records.

Mr Russell said: “Clearly something has gone seriously wrong.

“ The most important thing is to move quickly for patients and their families to be reassured measures are being put in place to deal with the issues of concern, and the morale of hardworking staff is raised.”