THE care offered to stroke patients at Colchester General Hospital is the second best in the country, new findings reveal.

Findings come from a study by the Royal College of Physicians of all 175 hospital trusts which admit stroke patients.

While nationally 58 per cent of stroke sufferers are admitted to a unit within four hours, in Colchester and Tendring, more than 70 per cent of patients were quickly cared for.

Patients treated quickly for a stroke have a better chance of survival.

In addition, more than three in four patients were helped to return home early by North East Essex clinical commissioning group’s early discharge team, compared to a national average of one in four.

Dr Shane Gordon, the group’s chief clinical officer, said: “These figures are the results of a shared determination to get higher standards of care for our patients resulting in less death, disability and better quality of life."