Expansion plans for Derian House Children's Hospice

11:20am Thursday 1st May 2008

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A Chorley hospice for terminally ill children has revealed that it needs more room because youngsters are living longer due to improvements in healthcare.

Derian House Children's Hospice, in Astley Village, Chorley, is adding an extra wing to the hospital which can currently house nine children.

With the new £1.5m extension, it will be able to cater for up to 13 youngsters at a time - including older ones.

Sue Poppett, fundraising manager at the Chancery Road hospice, said developments in healthcare over the last decade meant that the children diagnosed with terminal illnesses were living longer.

She said: "Some of our young adults are living longer now than they were ten years ago so demand for places has increased.

"It would not be appropriate to shuffle them off to adult hospitals as we do not want them to feel any discomfort, so we've decided to extend our facilities here instead."

The hospice, which opened in 1993, offers specialist palliative respite and terminal care for children who may not live to reach adulthood.

The new two-storey wing would cater for adolescent children with a dining area and recreational facilities, as well as facilities for staff, including a seminar room.

A new access road, including drop off point and additional parking spaces, would also be built.

Trevor Briggs, manager of the hospice, said: "At the moment we are dealing with children from babies to young adults in their twenties and we need to have a separate area for the adolescents.

"We are one of the busiest hospices nationally and the geographical area we cover is huge so demand is always high and we want to make sure that all our children are comfortable so the next logical step was to increase the space."

An application for the extension is currently being considered by planning bosses at Chorley Council.