WORK on a state-of-the-art new health unit costing millions of pounds will get underway next week, with a large crane lifting the first building blocks into place.

Colchester Hospital’s £64 million elective orthopaedic centre will officially start taking shape from Monday ahead of its scheduled opening next year.

The initial work will be carried out following the arrival of a huge crane which will move the first 37 of 289 pre-built modules into position.

Spearheaded by the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, the facility will cater for patients in need of planned operations on bones, joints and muscles.

Once the project is complete, it is hoped the site will result in fewer cancelled operations and shorter waiting times, as the surgery will take place in the new centre.

The unit will be named after the late orthopaedic surgeon Dame Clare Marx, who was the first female president of the British Orthopaedic Association.

She was also the president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the chair of the General Medical Council.

Motorists and pedestrians have been told contractors will try to keep disruption to a minimum but roads close to the building site may be busier at times.