North and mid-Essex hospitals show the striking disparity between Health authorities across the country.

Figures out today indicate patients in the Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust area are twice as likely to die within 30 days following emergency surgery than patients in Mid Essex Hospitals Trust area

Essex Rivers has also seen deterioration in figures for the number of patients dying after emergency admission to Colchester General Hospital with a hip fracture, and the number of people dying within 30 days after emergency admission with a stroke.

And while Mid Essex Hospitals has seen a large improvement in both of these areas, the number of patients dying 30 days after admission with a stroke is still higher than the national average.

Figures show 29,270 people died compared with the average of 27,204.

NHS tables out today show large variations across a range of other health indicators.

Patients at Colchester General and Broomfield hospitals are still having to wait longer than people in many other parts of the country.

The two trusts fell below the national average for six-month inpatient waits and 13-week outpatient waits.

Andrew Pike, mid Essex Hospital's Trust spokesman, welcomed the figures but said there was room for improvement.

He said: "I am pleased to see that the Trust performance is steadily improving across all the indicators and this reflects the tremendous hard work and dedication of our staff to make services better for patients."

A spokesman for Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust said: "We are looking forward to studying these figures over the next few days. We have seen some very encouraging signs but there are obviously areas we need to work on. We are not complacent."

Bill Allen, chairman of the North East Essex Community Health Council, said he was quite optimistic for the future.

"There are areas that need to be worked on such as the stroke services.

"But I am looking forward to the future. From Essex Rivers Healthcare's point of view, it is on the way up," he added.

Published Wednesday, February 20, 2002