A hospital has introduced a pioneering early warning system to alert staff when a sick child's condition is getting worse.

The scheme, believed to be the first of its kind in England, has been tried out at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Sick Children in Brighton.

Alan Monaghan, a clinical educator in intensive care at the hospital, spent two years devising the system and hopes it will eventually become common practice throughout the country.

The scheme rates the child's condition on three factors - behaviour, cardiovascular and breathing.

Behaviour is assessed on whether the child is alert, sleepy, irritable or lethargic and confused.

Cardiovascular is a specific test to check how well the blood is circulating round the body and breathing is a check to see whether the child is breathing easily or having to use extra muscles to draw breath.

Each factor is rated from zero to three and any child scoring an aggregate of more than four is judged to be at risk or needing extra support.

Mr Monaghan said: "I knew from my work with adults that an early warning system can save lives but the main sign of distress in a critically-ill adult is a drop in blood pressure.

"Children are completely different. By the time their blood pressure drops, they're already seriously ill.

"Nurses are very quick to spot when a child's condition is worsening and they immediately call for extra help.

"However, there is no formal way of measuring that need."

The system is now being more thoroughly assessed before being rolled out to other sites owned by Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.