EXTRA funding to help a North-East burns unit treat wounded Iraqis is to be used to permanently expand NHS services in the region.

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust is to share in a £20m Government scheme to provide extra capacity to treat severe burns victims from Iraq.

The Royal Victoria Infirmary is one of three elite UK burns centres to be asked to take on severe cases airlifted from Iraq, the others are in Manchester and Chelmsford, in Essex.

Last month the RVI admitted an Iraqi woman who had suffered 60 per cent burns during the conflict.

Health bosses at the Newcastle trust have agreed to use their share in the cash - which amounts to £5.2m - to permanently expand facilities at the regional burns unit at the RVI.

The cash will enable the RVI to treat up to two severe burns cases from Iraq every month and it will also be used to extend the existing unit.

As part of the scheme, members of the Newcastle trust board have backed plans to provide three additional burn care beds, hire an extra burns specialist and establish a specialist rehabilitation team.

Because of concerns that a sudden influx of Iraqi burns patients could disrupt planning surgery, the burns unit has developed contingency plans to deal with an unexpected surge of cases from abroad.

A spokesman for the trust said the investment "helps to bring forward the implementation of the new national standards" in burns care.