CHILDREN in intensive care will benefit from a government windfall to improve services.

Hospitals in Blackburn and Burnley will receive more than £55,000 - their share of a £15million handout nationally - to help ensure critically ill youngsters have prompt access to the best treatment.

The money will be allocated to East Lancashire Health Authority and split between Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust and Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Healthcare NHS Trust.

In Blackburn, £35,000 will be spent on resuscitation and stabilising equipment, while the remaining £20,000 will be spent on improving services in Burnley. The trusts hope to improve communication procedures with specialist hospitals such as the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital in Pendlebury and the Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital at Alder Hey, as well as providing areas for respite and medical treatment of children.

Pendlebury and Alder Hey will receive more than £1million between them for improvements. Announcing the extra money, health secretary Frank Dobson said more than £2million would be pumped into hospitals in the North West with a further £350,000 available to provide resuscitation training for doctors, nurses and paramedics in the region.

He went on: "No NHS patient is more vulnerable, or more the cause of worry and concern to loved ones than a critically ill child. Parents want to be sure that the treatment their child gets is of the highest quality and that it is being delivered in the most professional and effective way.

"There will be further improvement in children's intensive care thanks to this extra cash announced today.

"It brings the total amount of extra funding invested since May 1997 to £30million which has already put a significant number of extra nurses, specially trained in caring for critically ill children on the wards."

A spokesman for the East Lancashire Health Authority added: "We are delighted this money has been made available and are sure it will make a big difference to the care of children in this area."

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