THE Daily Echo campaign for a new children’s accident and emergency department in Southampton have been given a huge boost by Chancellor George Osborne.

Mr Osborne says there is a “strong case” to back the £4.8million drive for a new children’s accident and emergency and trauma department at Southampton General Hospital.

His announcement gives a great lift to Daily Echo’s ‘Say Yes George’ campaign urging the senior Tory to agree to invest £2million from the government towards the ambitious project.

As previously reported we have teamed up with Southampton General and celebrities Sarah Parish and James Murray to spearhead plans for a separate department offering bespoke care for children rather than them having to use busy adult A&E services.

But before we can start we have to agree for the Treasury to match fund the cash locally.

Mr Osborne hailed the exciting project in Parliament yesterday following a question from Southampton North and Romsey MP Caroline Nokes.

Ms Nokes, who is pushing for the campaign, told the chamber that there was “widespread” support for the new complex.

She said: “Can I ask him [the Chancellor] to give careful consideration to the bid put forward by clinicians and are looking for support for a matched funding bid.”

Mr Osborne answered: “I’m aware of the case being made - a very strong case in my view - for the children’s facilities at the Southampton hospital.”

He gave recognition to Ms Nokes and colleague, the Winchester MP Steve Brine for helping push for the deal, and said: “It’s something I’m looking closely at and I will make an announcement in due course.”

The new department, hoped to one day be part of a complete multi-million pound children’s hospital, would feature a state-of-the-art eight bed observation area, 11 glass fronted and soundproofed cubicles and on-hand x-ray facilities.

Our campaign aims to follow the example of an appeal that raised £3 million for the Great Ormond Street Hospital for children in London. The GOSH campaign saw the Treasury match fund £1.5million raised by Londoners to hit a £3 million target.

What you can do to help:

To help persuade Chancellor George Osborne to agree that the Treasury should match fun money raised locally towards a dedicated Children’s A&E Department at Southampton, you can make a difference by: • Write or email your MP calling on them to support the campaign.

•Send the Daily Echo a video of you, your family and friends saying ‘Say Yes George’ for us to include on our website appeal to the Chancellor: newsdesk@daileycho.co.uk or upload via our site.

Email us at the Daily Echo with your stories of how you have had to use the Accident and Emergency Department at Southampton General Hospital – perhaps as a child patient yourself or to help your own children – and why you believe a dedicated Children’s Department is a must.

•Contact the Daily Echo’’s health correspondent Maxwell Kusi-Obodum with your story and comments at: maxwell.kusi-obodum@dailyecho.co.uk