HEALTH bosses in East Lancashire have welcomed Chancellor Gordon Brown's Budget announcement of massive funding for the NHS and have promised it will benefit local patients.

Mr Brown pledged spending on the NHS would increase from £64.5 billion this year to £105.6 billion in 2007-8, with a £1 billion cash injection immediately, followed by a further 43 per cent increase over the next five years.

It means every trust in Britain will be receiving extra funding, as well as Health Secretary Alan Milburn's pledge that more money will go into providing extra nurses, midwives, health visitors, GPs and specialists.

Managers at Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust and Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley, have welcomed the announcement.

David Meakin, director of finance at Burnley, said: "The introduction of more money into the NHS will enhance the many services that we are already able to provide. News like this is a morale boost to the hard-working staff at Burnley.

"The trust received an additional £1 million of capital in March and plans are now in place to provide an additional 28-bed medical ward on the Burnley General Hospital site. This, together with the Chancellor's announcement, will mean the Burnley trust continues to make improvements to services for its patients, whilst meeting government targets on the NHS Plan."

Rob Bellingham, director of corporate development at Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS Trust, which runs Queen's Park Hospital and Blackburn Royal Infirmary, said: "We recently published our five-year plan to deliver on the NHS Plan targets and if the budget settlement allows us to deliver on what is in that document, then we would welcome that clearly."