The NHS trust running hospital services in Braintree, Maldon and Chelmsford has been told it requires improvement.

Health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected the Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust between November and March this year.

The trust runs St Michael's Hospital in Braintree, St Peter’s Hospital in Maldon and Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford.

Inspectors first told the trust it required improvement after a three day visit to Broomfield Hospital and Braintree Community Hospital in November.

Following this inspection, the trust was issued with a warning.

Inspectors then returned on February 5 after concerns were raised about the Emergency Assessment Unit (EAU) at Broomfield and then again on March 26 to see whether improvements had been made.

The report said that although staff were “passionate, dedicated and cared about the work they delivered” there were significant staff shortages and a “blame culture” in the EAU.

Broomfield Hospital was given an overall Requires Improvement rating, although St Michael’s Hospital was given a Good rating in every category.

CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said: “While there were some areas of good practice, we were seriously concerned at what we found during our inspections and this is why we took immediate and urgent action at the trust.

“The trust must now make urgent improvements and we will continue to monitor its progress, which will include further inspections.

“People deserve to be treated in services which are safe, caring, effective, well-led, and responsive to their needs and this is what we look at when we carry out our inspections.”