A new £15m ward is being built at a Norfolk hospital to give patients somewhere to go while supports are installed to prop its main building up.

Work has begun to construct a new building at the James Paget University Hospital, which will be used as a "decant" ward once it is completed in April.

The project will provide the hospital with space to move patients while precautionary engineering work is carried out inside the 40-year-old hospital.

But it is also hoped the new 28-bed facility will provide an insight into what the hospital will look like once it has been rebuilt.

The coastal site is one of 40 hospitals the government has pledged to rebuild, having been built from controversial reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAV) panels.

Consequently, it is close to the end of its shelf life and in need of timber supports to ensure it can survive until the rebuild is complete - similar to those propping up the Queen Elizabeth in King's Lynn.

And the decant ward has been designed to reflect what a new James Paget could look and feel like.

Paul Morris, chief nurse at the JPH, said: "We have made the decision to develop a new ward space that showcases the possibilities of what our new hospital could look like in the future.

"Providing single bedrooms will give our patients and their families and carers additional privacy, and a quieter environment for their care.

"We are excited that this facility will provide our nurse and healthcare staff with experience of innovative new ways of working - and we will listen to their feedback and the views of patients being cared for on the ward - as we continue our plans for a new hospital."

The new building will consist of two four-bed wards and 20 individual bedrooms.

It will allow one ward at a time to be moved into the new building so timber supports can be installed without interrupting patient care.

Once the new hospital is built, the ward will become a regular part of the site, alongside a new diagnostic assessment centre, which is also under construction.