STROKE patients treated at Taunton’s Musgrove Park Hospital receive some of the best care in the country, according to findings by the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme.

The latest quarterly performance data shows Musgrove’s performance among the top 5% of the 160 stroke units in the UK who routinely admit stroke patients.

And Musgrove’s overall performance in the last six months was the highest across the South-West region, concludes SSNAP, which provides information to inform the public how well their local hospital is performing at diagnosing and treating stroke patients.

Musgrove chief executive Jo Cubbon said: “These results are excellent news for all patients in Somerset who are cared for by the stroke team at Musgrove.

“We know that if you suffer from a stroke, patients need to know they are receiving the very best care from the very best staff and I am confident we have both.”

Dr Rob Whiting, consultant stroke specialist at Musgrove Park Hospital, said: “SSNAP gives us the opportunity to benchmark our own performance against all other stroke services in the UK.

“It is great to see the latest data shows our performance to be amongst the best stroke units in the UK.

“Nevertheless, we know that there are still areas in which we can improve further, and we will continue to work hard to deliver high standards of stroke care for our patients.”

Time is crucial for people who have suffered a stroke and therefore it is important that people in Somerset know that no matter what time of day they might have a stroke, they have access to the best possible facilities and the very best staff to provide them with the greatest chance of recovery.