Stroke services at ESNEFT

We provide stroke services for patients at both Colchester and Ipswich hospitals.

If you or someone with you has had a stroke it is very important that treatment is received as quickly as possible.

How to tell if someone is having a stroke

You can recognise a stroke by using the FAST test:

FACE: Has their face fallen on one side? Can they smile?

ARMS: Can they raise both arms and keep them there?

SPEECH: Is their speech slurred?

TIME: Time to call 999 if you see any one of these signs.

NHS website – Stroke (Opens in a new window).

Stroke service at Colchester Hospital

We run mini-stroke (TIA) clinics 7 days a week. In these clinics, you will be reviewed by consultants and will have most of the investigations on the same day.

We care for inpatients in our stroke unit at Colchester Hospital. The stroke unit provides hyperacute care with 6 monitored beds. We admit more than 600 stroke patients every year. We provide clot busting treatment 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Following hyperacute care, patients are stepped down to the acute and rehabilitation beds within the stroke unit.

Patients are subsequently transferred to the Kate Grant Ward at Clacton Hospital or the early supported discharge service for further rehabilitation.

In total there are 33 beds in the well-equipped stroke unit with excellent facilities to aid recovery. There is a specialist medical, nursing and therapy team.

Colchester Hospital Stroke Unit Accessibility information from AccessAble (Opens in a new window).

Stroke service at Ipswich Hospital

Stroke Nurse-led Clinic: 01473 702 675

Stroke/TIA Rapid Assessment: 01473 704 136

Ipswich Hospital Stroke Therapy Accessibility information from AccessAble (Opens in a new window).

We care for inpatients in our stroke unit at Ipswich Hospital. Our stroke unit provides hyper-acute stroke care. This involves intensive nursing, medical and therapy input in the first 24 to 72 hours following stroke onset.

We aim to treat the stroke and reduce any further damage whilst trying to find out why the stroke occurred. Treatment usually takes place in one of our four-bedded, hyper-acute units.

Patients who need ongoing inpatient care are transferred to our other stroke beds which are in single-sex bays on Shotley and Sproughton wards.