Officials at the region's largest hospital say they are within days of ending a controversial emergency measure which saw extra beds crammed onto wards.

The policy, which has seen some areas at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital reconfigured to accommodate seven patients rather than six, has been in force since late 2021.

The measure has been criticised because patients receive less comfort and privacy throughout their care.

However, with the hospital struggling to cope with the demand for beds and difficulties in discharging patients into the community, bosses have been thus far unable to end the practice.

But they now say they are hopeful of being able to restore wards to their usual capacity in the next two weeks.

Currently, the hospital has 13 patients occupying 'escalation beds' - although at one point this was as many as 83.

Eastern Daily Press: Chris Cobb, chief operating officer at NNUHChris Cobb, chief operating officer at NNUH (Image: NNUH)

But Chris Cobb, chief operating officer at the N&N, told its board of directors that he was optimistic that by June 19 it would only need to use one of these beds.

He said: "A lot of people have worked incredibly hard to get to this point."

However, Tom Spink, chairman of the hospital's board, said they could not afford to "declare victory" yet.

Sam Higginson, chief executive of NNUH, said: "We have been working very hard to try and reduce the need for escalation beds.

"We have had to really focus to try and get that down but there is a lot of positivity."

Meanwhile, Mr Higginson warned the hospital will be facing more disruption in the coming weeks as junior doctors prepare to take industrial action again.

He said: "We owe a lot of thanks to our senior doctors and other staff who have helped  us during the industrial action by working extra shifts and being extremely flexible."