Staff, patients and their families gathered last week to celebrate a £1million refurbishment and extension to Wexham Park Hospital's children's critical care ward.

Slough's mayor Cllr Arvind Dhaliwal was a special guest at the event.

The number of beds in the ward has increased from two beds to five.

The new unit also includes four bedrooms for families to stay.

The hospital’s charity is now aiming to raise another £210,000 to bring in the latest equipment and services to support some of the area’s sickest young patients and their families.

They want to provide portable ventilators, a portable ultrasound scanner for quick and painless internal imaging and a mobile computer that can be wheeled to the patient’s bedside to show x-rays, scans and blood results.

The appeal also aims to purchase toys to entertain children during their stay and furnishing for the parent accommodation.

Sir Andrew Morris, chief executive of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Wexham Park Hospital, said: “Fantastic patient care has to be married up with fantastic patient environments. This is a big step up for our paediatric department.”

About 10 children are admitted to the unit at Wexham Park every week.