A SEVEN-month-old baby with breathing difficulties faced a late-night dash to Gloucester because there were no doctors available at the Dilke Hospital in Cinderford.

Sally Davies, the grandmother of Tayo Freeman-Cousins, said the lack of doctors “is a worrying situation for all who live in the Forest of Dean.”

A South Western Ambulance Service spokes-

man said there was no out-of-hours doctor at the Dilke “in line with commissioning arrangements”.

Tayo Freeman-Cousins had breathing difficulties which required a paramedic to stay for around an hour before suggesting he should go to hospital.

Sally said: “My son contacted the Dilke Hospital at 10pm, but there was no doctor available or on-call. He then had to take Tayo to Gloucester – 20 miles away.  

“With young parents extremely concerned for the baby, this is not a good journey to have to make. They had also to arrange cover for their other young child rather than take him from his bed and cause him distress.

“(The fact there was no available doctor) is a very worrying situation for all who live in the Forest of Dean. There are a number of scenarios to consider. What would the scenario be if a single parent with other children, no transport available and no backup family or friends to look after the other children had to make their way to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital?”

A South Western Ambulance Service spokesman said: “The only record of patient contact we have from the Freeman-Cousins family is when they arrived at Gloucester Royal Hospital (GRH) just before 12.40am on Sunday, April 3.

“Their child was treated by the on-call GP there and immediately discharged. The well-established procedure of booking out

of hours appointments across Gloucestershire is via NHS 111. It then refers the patient to South Western Ambulance Service as the provider of the out-of-hours service and patient appointments are made as required.

“On this occasion we did not receive a referral via the NHS 111 system and were not aware that the family called Dilke hospital prior to self-presenting at GRH.

“In line with commissioning arrangements, an out-of-hours GP is not available at Dilke Hospital all night, but this service is provided at Gloucester Royal Hospital.”

Sally added: “Tayo was diagnosed with bronchitis and prescribed antibiotics. Had the problem been men­ingitis, time is of the greatest importance as we all know, and a 20-mile journey to seek medical help may have had a very different ending.

“It should be a priority with so many new houses being built in the Forest of Dean that there is no evening or weekend medical cover from doctors. We do not have the necessary infrastructure in place in regard to health care, schools and other basics for living to have yet more houses built in the area.”