MOVES to start work in earnest on a £480m hospital redevelopment have taken a major step forward.

The full business case for the changes at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton has been formally approved by the Trust Development Authority (TDA).

The TDA is responsible for the overseeing, management and performance of NHS trusts.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust is now working through the final round of approvals with the Department of Health and the Treasury.

In a message to staff, trust chief executive Matthew Kershaw said: “The TDA decision brings us one very significant step closer to the goal of starting construction of the first of our state of the art, new hospital buildings early in 2016.”

Preparation work has included setting up temporary buildings that will be used as a base for clinical services which will be moved around when redevelopment work starts.

The redevelopment will include demolishing cramped and dilapidated buildings which are almost 200 years old and no longer suitable for 21st century medical care.

The Barry and Jubilee buildings were in use at the time of Florence Nightingale and are the oldest still used by the NHS.

There will also be an expanded cancer centre and underground car park and helipad installed on top of the hospital’s Thomas Kemp tower.

Its redevelopment will be carried out in three stages and scores of jobs are expected to be created.

The continuing delay in getting final approval for the plans has sparked concerns about whether the project will be given the go-ahead because of spiralling costs.

However the government says it is still committed to the scheme after giving approval in principal last year.

The project also has local support, with planning permission granted by Brighton and Hove City Council in 2012.

If everything goes to schedule, the new-look hospital will be ready by 2023.