Local estates and construction teams are preparing to scale the hospital's 160ft tower block building to carry out maintenance work, which includes safety checks and a fire safety upgrade following recent changes in legislation.

The work is expected to take about 20 months to complete and will be accompanied by a further programme of work to improve the building's public and service lift infrastructure.

Humber Health Partnership says costs have yet to be finalised pending the outcome of a successful tendering process.

Tom Myers, group director of estates, facilities and development for NHS Humber Health Partnership, said: ‘Aside from very minor repairs, it's been more than decade since any significant maintenance works were carried out on the outside of the tower block, so over the next few months, passers-by should expect to see this latest round of maintenance kicking off.

‘As part of this work, we'll be upgrading the building's external fire protection, so we'll see parts of the frontage being removed and replaced. We'll also begin some much-needed improvements to our ageing lift system to improve its reliability, as we know how much frustration having lifts out of order, especially during busy periods, can cause in a building of this size.'

The work is not expected to cause any disruption to patient care, as maintenance teams will not require access to wards or clinical facilities, although some access restrictions for pedestrians and vehicles may be put in place temporarily around the base of the building.