Lexie Foster, of Littlehampton, spent three days in Worthing Hospital dangerously dehydrated and with septicaemia, although only days beforehand she had been diagnosed with chicken pox, by a doctor working on the out-of-hours GP service.

Carole Foster, Lexie's grandmother, said: "I am very angry, and very concerned about the treatment Lexie received. We had to ignore the doctor's advice and take her to the hospital to make her better.

"As soon as we arrived, she was rushed onto a ward, and we were told that we had brought her in the nick of time."

Lexie had fallen ill at the start of a weekend, earlier this month. Her mother, Grace Delany, said she phoned her own doctors' surgery, which referred her to the out-of-hours service.

Red rash

Carole said: "Lexie was not eating, not drinking and had a red rash all over her body. We were told it was chicken pox and that nothing could be done.

"The next morning, she still had not eaten, or wet her nappy, and she was drifting in and out of consciousness. That's when we rang again, and we were told, in no uncertain terms, that no one would be out to see us, it was just chicken pox, and she would get over it."

She added that Lexie's temperature had reached 104oF, which is when it was decided to take her to the hospital.

"I dread to think what would have happened if we had not taken her right then. I stayed with Lexie for one-and-a-half-hours in the treatment room, she was so distressed.

"The spots on her body had turned black, and her mouth and tongue were red raw. Doctors and nurses attached her to different equipment, took blood and gave her antibiotics and fluids intravenously."

Apology

A spokesman for West Sussex Primary Care Trust apologised for the experience Lexie's family had had with the out-of-hours service.

"We have asked Harmoni, the out-of-hours service provider, to look into the case and to respond to Ms Delaney and the PCT with their findings."

Harmoni's managing director, Edmund Jahn, said an investigation had been launched into the matter, and that any "premature conclusions would not do justice to the child, the family and the professionals involved".

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