An artists' image of Cromer's new £15m hospital.

A £15m hospital is days away from opening its doors to patients for the first time - signalling the beginning of the end of an 11-year saga.

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The new Cromer and District Hospital will begin active service from the first week in March, while work continues on site to demolish the old buildings and pave and landscape the grounds.

The move is planned to take place over three weekends beginning March 3 and 4. First to move will be the minor injuries unit (MIU), imaging department and administrative offices, followed by the ophthalmology department, day procedure room and treatment bays on March 10 and 11.

Last to move will be the out-patient areas and audiology department on March 17 and 18.

The hospital, which is taking shape behind the existing building on Mill Road, Cromer, has been funded largely from a £12m legacy from widow Sagle Bernstein and £1.4m left by Phyllis Cox.

The move is logistically taxing, and a spokesman for the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals Trust (NNUH) said it was “working closely with the main contractor, Mansell, to keep any disruption to a minimum”.

She said the old MIU would remain open for patients until 8pm on Friday March 2 and would reopen in the new building at 8am on Saturday March 3, with no change to the usual working hours.

However, visitors are being asked to be patient during the move and to think twice about using the MIU service if their needs can be met elsewhere.

Helen Lloyd, operational manager for Cromer Hospital, said: “We have planned the move to minimise disruption for both patients and staff. However, until the old buildings have been completely demolished and the grounds are landscaped this is still a construction site.”

In the days leading up to the move, work is going on to install and commission new medical equipment, including imaging equipment and a ceiling-mounted microscope for the ophthalmology theatre. Any items that cannot be transferred to the new hospital or to NNUH are being donated to Aid for Hospitals Worldwide.

Access will be limited in the coming weeks and motorists bringing patients with mobility problems are advised to use a drop-off area near the entrance before parking at the football ground opposite the hospital. Wheelchairs will be available on the ground floor and meet-and-greet volunteers will be on hand to guide patients.

Services at Cromer have been revised to reflect the capacity and facilities available in the new building, with some new out-patient clinics, diagnostics and local anaesthetic procedures being introduced. However, all endoscopy and any surgery requiring a general anaesthetic is now being carried out at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

New services for Cromer

One of the latest innovations at Cromer is abdominal aortic aneurysm screening, which is being introduced nationally. Around 8,000 men who turn 65 during 2012/13 are being invited to have the ultrasound examination at various centres in the Norfolk and Waveney area.

Other new services will include a weekly eye casualty clinic, while some hand surgery and therapy will be added to the list of specialist orthopaedic procedures available at Cromer.

In June the list of diagnostic procedures will be increased to include bone scanning, while a year-round mammography service will replace the existing mobile mammography unit.