THE latest vein and artery surgery will be carried out at Colchester General Hospital, health bosses have agreed.

NHS North East Essex primary care trust approved plans to create a centre for major vascular surgery at the Turner Road hospital. It will include a £1million 3D X-ray machine.

The move means major operations will be carried out at Colchester General from the spring, instead of being shared with Ipswich Hospital.

All other aspects of vascular care, including day case surgery and outpatients’ clinics, will remain at both hospitals.

A spokesman for Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust said the centre would offer a “gold standard level of care”.

The trust is buying an X-ray machine, known as a C-arm for its curved shape, which provides the image technology to help surgeons carry out the operations. It is thought a large part of a ward will be set aside for patients recovering from the surgery. The changes were drawn up by the Five Rivers Vascular Network, a group of clinicians, patients and GPs, in response to figures showing too many people die of avoidable vascular problems in the UK.

Chairman Hossein Khaled said the centre would protect specialist services that may have gone further afield to centres in Cambridge, Norwich or London.