The new neurosurgical ward should be completed by 2005

Derriford Hospital in Plymouth put forward plans to increase its number of neurosurgical beds from 18 to 41.

The South West Peninsula Strategic Health Authority has now approved the �3m scheme.

The new 23-bedded ward will be made up of four-bedded bays and is to be the first component of the hospital's Vanguard project - the name given to a �300m initiative to expand Derriford and ease its overcrowding problem.

Theatre sessions

The increase in the number of beds will mean patients needing neurosurgical care can get better access to appropriate treatment.

The new ward is to be built on Level Three at the hospital and should be completed by 2005.

The need for expansion of neuroscience services within the region was identified in a review in 2001.

The approval of the plan coincides with an increase in the number of theatre sessions dedicated to neurosurgery.

All the proposals for the Vanguard project could be completed by 2007.

It aims to provide a total of an extra 300 beds and, under it, many existing wards will be modernised.