The Westcountry's largest hospital plans to invest millions of pounds over the next 10 years.

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust says it will invest around £170m to ensure that Derriford Hospital provides healthcare suitable for the 21st century.

The planned development, known as the Vanguard Estates Project, includes proposals for a dedicated children's hospital, a new main entrance and transport drop off point, an emergency services 'hub' and a new multi-storey car park.

The money will also be spent on refurbishing all wards and public areas in the hospital, as well as the construction of a new centre for patients needing planned treatment such as eye care.

The trust has produced a bite-size document called Our Plans 2008 to 2018, which outlines how it plans to deliver its service in the future.

Also included in the paper are the trust’s plans for its academic and research programme to ensure the right staff are in the right place at the right time with the right skills to care for patients.

Lesley Darke, Vanguard Estates Project: "As we change the way we deliver our services, our buildings need to change too. They need to be modernised and fit for 21st century healthcare."

The trust says it has already started to transform the buildings and facilities at Derriford.

In 2007, the new Terence Lewis Building opened, housing a specially-designed new cardiothoracic unit and staff library, the pre-operative assessment unit on Marlborough ward and the pre-operative admissions unit on Fal ward opened and building is currently underway on a much larger general intensive care unit.

Lesley Darke, acting director of the Vanguard Estates Project, said: "As we change the way we deliver our services, our buildings need to change too. They need to be modernised and fit for 21st century healthcare.

"This is about giving patients the healthcare facilities they expect and deserve. We want the best buildings, wards and rooms that ensure patient privacy and dignity, support our infection control standards and meet the expectations of patients.

"This is a phased development plan over the next ten years. As much as we would like to do everything at once, it would cause massive disruption. Under this plan, we are doing things bit by bit in affordable chunks and in a way that causes minimum disruption to patients and staff.

"It's really exciting and tangible as things are already happening which patients have noticed and commented on.

"We will only be able to continue to deliver these improvements if we produce financial surpluses that we can then reinvest - so our plans also demonstrate a public organisation being very responsible with its finances."