Derriford was built in the 1970s

The scheme for Plymouth's Derriford Hospital will cost up to £200m and will include a new children's' hospital and emergency centre.

Plans had been drawn up for a major refurbishment of the site, known as the Vanguard Project, but they have now been scrapped.

The rethink means up to 80% of the existing hospital will be pulled down.

The hospital has to make sure that... patient services aren't disrupted Peter Kapoor, Patients' Forum

Designed in the 1960s and built in the 1970s, Derriford Hospital has served the region for 25 years.

The newly-announced scheme, which will see the new hospital built behind the existing one, is a radical departure from previous plans to refurbish Derriford which would have taken much longer.

Andy Ibbs, of Plymouth Hospitals' NHS Trust, said: "It would have been a much longer programme actually.

"We would probably have been knocking around the hospital for five years, whereas the new build will only take about three and a half years."

The rebuild will not affect Derriford's new maternity wing and Plateau project currently under construction.

Health watchdog groups are welcoming the new plans, as long as patients' needs come first.

Peter Kapoor, of Plymouth Hospitals Patient Forum, said: "The hospital has to make sure that during the rebuild patient services aren't disrupted, that in no way care is going to be affected."