MPS expressed disappointment after the latest damning report on Colchester General Hospital.

The crisis-hit Turner Road hospital was branded inadequate by the Care Quality Commission in a report published on Friday.

Both the A&E and emergency assessment units were deemed inadequate, bringing the hospital’s overall rating to inadequate.

Colchester MP Sir Bob Russell said he had requested a meeting with Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, but was standing by staff at the hospital.

Sir Bob said: “I stand foursquare with the hard-working and dedicated staff.

“If there are shortcomings, as is claimed, then I need to establish where the problems, perceived or otherwise, are.

“Of one thing I am certain: It is not the fault of the frontline staff whom I have seen at first-hand, when I spent a night shift in A&E.

“If it is a structural or line management problem, then the question has to be asked why the commission has not noticed it before.

“I can reveal I have already written to the Health Secretary to seek an urgent meeting.”

Harwich and North Essex MP Bernard Jenkin said: “I am not surprised this is such a damning report, but we want the truth and we have got unvarnished truth.

“The question is how the hospital uses the truth to put right what has clearly been wrong.”

Witham MP Priti Patel has called for an improvement plan to be implemented as soon as possible in the wake of the latest report.

She said: “The hospital trust will now need to crack on with implementing the improvements the commission require so that patients can be assured they will receive the best care possible.

“The trust has made a series of changes to its board and management and I am in regular contact with the chief executive to question them about services and improvement plans and to support them.”

In A&E, the report found a number of patient safety and dignity issues, as well as problems with staffing levels and the length of time patients were awaiting treatment. Inspectors also found the department was not always clean and care was not always up to standards, especially relating to head injuries. There were “significant concerns” and “significant delays due to ongoing surges in patient demand” in the emergency assessment unit.

The unannounced inspections inspection took place on November 12 and 27, while a follow-up check was made on December 23.

Hospital bosses claimed the report was unbalanced, did not reflect the unprecedented pressures it was under at the time of inspection nor the progress made by the trust in the last year.

The regulator, Monitor, placed the hospital in special measures in November 2013 as a result of the commission cancer report published that month. The repoert claimed staff had been bullied into altering patient records to hide the fact the trust had missed cancer treatment targets.

A trust spokesman said: “We remain fully committed to making all the improvements needed for Monitor to take us out of special measures as soon as possible, although it would be unrealistic to expect this to happen before another commission visit, which we expect will take place this summer.”