EXPANSION plans for Royal Bournemouth Hospital have moved a step forward with the submission of final details of the scheme.

University Hospitals Dorset has filed its reserved matters application for part of the multi-million pound project, including the six-storey extension.

The trust’s planners, IBI Group, said the building would “celebrate” the identity of the hospital while also “becoming a symbol for the future”.

Outline planning permission for the large-scale redevelopment of the Royal Bournemouth site was awarded by BCP Council’s planning committee last year.

Speaking after the decision, trust chief executive Debbie Fleming, described the project as “once in a generation”.

It is part of the shake-up of Dorset’s NHS services which will see the site become a major acute care centre.

To accommodate this, the trust has been progressing plans to expand the hospital, mainly through a six-storey extension housing a “women’s, children’s, emergency and critical care facility”.

And it has now submitted detailed proposals for the building which will house new emergency, maternity and paediatric departments.

“The new development celebrates the hospital’s existing identity whilst also becoming a symbol for the future of [the trust],” a statement submitted with the plans says.

“The development proposes high-quality patient facilities, healthy working conditions for staff and a comfortable setting for visitors throughout the emergency care centre and women and children’s hospital.”

The application covers two parts of its redevelopment – the other being a new “energy centre” to power the hospital.

The statement adds that both buildings have been designed to fit “harmoniously” with the existing complex “whilst also providing an exciting visual identity”.

It says further applications for the remainder of the work will be lodged at a later date.

A decision on the submitted plans will be made by council planning officers after the March 12 deadline for public comments.

The trust has said it hopes to begin work this year with an aim for the project to be finished in 2024.