A crumbling Norfolk hospital will find out within weeks whether ministers are considering a replacement.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital at King's Lynn is said to be the 'most propped' in the NHS, with more than 200 supports needed to prevent its roof from falling in.

Built with an anticipated working life of 30 years, the 500-bed QEH is still in operation more than four decades later.

The hospital, which was not included in a list of new-builds announced by the government late in 2020, hopes to be one of eight further replacements which will be announced later this year.

Now senior managers at the trust which runs it have been told by the Department for Health and Social Care that the outcome of the initial assessment stage will be "shared within weeks".

Chief executive Caroline Shaw said: “We expect to find out very soon if QEH has made the longlist for one of Government’s eight further new hospital schemes.

“We remain very confident we have an extremely strong and compelling case which we will continue to press on all fronts for our patients, their loved ones and our local community.”

The QEH has tabled two options as part of its bid. One is the so-called 'big bang', where an entirely new hospital is built to replace the existing one.

Staff prefer this option, which proposes a larger hospital than the current complex, to cope with the growth in population of its catchment area since it opened in 1980.

The second option is for phased rebuild, with parts of the hospital replaced in stages on the existing site.

Work has started on a new endoscopy unit, paid for with some of the £20m the government provided in extra funding for the hospital last year.

Regional NHS bosses are believed to favour the first option, although details of the process have been shrouded in secrecy.

Some 120 NHS trusts have made expressions of interests to be one of the eight rebuilds.

Those on the longlist set to be announced shortly will be asked to submit more detailed proposals and costings, with a final decision expected in six to eight months' time.

Even if the QEH makes the final eight, the lengthy planning and procurement process means the first patients are unlikely to be treated in the new hospital before 2030.

Tens of thousands of people have signed petitions calling for the hospital to be replaced, while there are weekly protests outside.