MP Robert Halfon has called for an urgent inquiry into money being spent on consultants after the Princess Alexandra Hospital was rated “inadequate”.

The Harlow hospital, which cares for many people in Epping Forest, received the rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in a report published last week.

The CQC said beds are overflowing, staff are struggling to cope and bosses are disconnected from problems in the wards.

Following the report Robert Halfon, MP for Harlow and villages such as Roydon and Hastingwood, said: “I have real concerns about the money spent by regional NHS bodies on consultancy.

“Many hundreds of thousands have been spent on management consultants, with £1million going to PwC and over £600,000 to Boston Consulting Group alone.

“I am not clear why this much money needs to be spent when the work could have been achieved by NHS officials and by speaking to the hard working doctors and nurses in our hospitals who best understand the problems they are facing and what their patients need.

“We need an urgent inquiry into how much money has been spent on these management consultancies and why.”

Mr Halfon said he was not happy with NHS England for fining the hospital £1.8million for failing to meet patient treatment targets “while it was already struggling”.

He also claimed no senior NHS England official has visited the hospital since a new chief executive started over two years ago.

Highlighting increasing accident and emergency admissions and ageing buildings, Mr Halfon said recruitment is a “massive challenge” with London and Cambridge attracting many nurses.

Despite the issues, he said: “I have seen first-hand that the staff and the management team at Princess Alexandra Hospital work incredibly hard and do an amazing job for Harlow residents.

“As MP, I get many emails and letters from residents who have had an excellent and caring service from our hospital.”

Epping Forest MP Eleanor Laing also praised good work at the hospital, which was given an “outstanding” rating for maternity and gynaecology care.

She said: “I hope that NHS Improvement will take the necessary steps to help the local management team to make the improvements for which they are striving.”