FOOD dished up to patients at Clacton Hospital has scored highly in new online ratings.

Hospital food is being ranked on the NHS Choices website for the first time in a bid to drive up standards.

Clacton Hospital was rated more than 98 per cent for quality, but in the choice category it slipped to just under 80 per cent.

The cost of food per patient a day was £6.35.

Colchester General scored 91.5 per cent for quality, 88.5 for choice, and spent £10.63 a day.

Dovercourt’s Fryatt Hospital rated at 94 per cent for quality and just over 90 for choice.