MP writes to NHS trust about hospital care concerns

An MP has raised concerns about the performance of hospitals at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.

Labour MP Jen Craft wrote to the trust's Chief Executive, Matthew Hopkins, and said her constituents have had "important and long-awaited procedures cancelled" and it was providing "an unacceptable standard of care".

The trust, which oversees hospitals at sites including Basildon, Broomfield and Southend, was ranked the worst-performing large trust in England.

Mr Hopkins said: "Our aim is to make rapid, sustainable improvement - cutting waiting lists, continuing to improve the quality of care we provide, and spending taxpayers' money responsibly."

David Brading said he is living in pain whilst waiting for an appointment.

Under the government's plan to reform elective care, trusts are required to have at least 65% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks for treatment by March 2026.

The latest figures from June showed Mid and South Essex saw 50.4% in under 18 weeks, down from 52.8% in November 2024.

David Brading, 69, from South Ockendon, said he had an orthopaedic procedure cancelled and has been asking for a hip and knee replacement for eight years.

Describing his situation as "awful", he added: You wake up in the middle of the night. You've got cramps in your legs, pain in your legs, pain in your hip."

He has been told he will have an orthopaedic appointment at the end of the month.

The latest hospital board papers show orthopaedics "has been impacted by the prolonged closures of theatres, due to urgent estates work".

It said 1,400 hip and knee patients require treatment before the end of the year in the region.

Cherry West, managing director of Basildon Hospital, said two new orthopaedic theatres would open this autumn.

She added: "We are still providing elective orthopaedic surgery at Basildon Hospital. Our two new orthopaedic theatres will be open this autumn, and in the meantime, patients are being offered joint replacements at other locations."

Labour MP Jen Craft wrote saying her local hospital's performance "flies in the face" of what is happening nationally.

In the letter seen by the BBC, Craft said the level of care and treatments "flies in the face of the national pattern of elective care waiting lists falling".

She told the BBC her Thurrock constituents "are not getting a good deal".

She added: "You really have to look at the management of the trust, and you have to say, is that where the buck stops?"

Basildon and Billericay MP, Conservative Richard Holden said: "The government needs to release the extra £100m in capital spending for the trust, but infrastructure improvements alone will not fix this issue. Only a culture shift will, and that comes from our local NHS leadership".

Chelmsford MP, Lib Dem Marie Goldman, said residents were "bearing the brunt" and continued: These league tables don't capture the lived experience of patients and could undermine already overstretched services by driving people away".

South Basildon and East Thurrock MP, Independent James McMurdock, added: "These results are indefensible. As both a user and a privileged visitor of the trust, there are things which I have seen and experienced which I don't believe are good enough."