The party would invite bids from health authorities looking to expand services, backed by 300m in funding.
This would also be used to support capital improvements at existing children's hospitals, following a major review that would assess how to boost dwindling numbers of specialist paediatric staff.
Harvey Marcovitch, consultant paediatrician and spokesman for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, warned against exploiting the issue for political purposes. He said the national shortage of paediatricians meant it was logical to centralise children's services at larger hospitals, but the public reaction to closing more local general hospital children's units could be a "difficult balancing act".
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