THE mother of a toddler with a rare medical condition has claimed her son’s life was put at risk by hospital staff who failed to ensure he got the treatment he needed.

Charlotte Yarrow, 29, said she discharged her 21-month-old son, Joshua, from the children’s ward at Darlington Memorial Hospital because she was so distressed at the lack of care from nurses who, she said, told her they were understaffed.

Miss Yarrow, a student from Darlington, said nurses failed to give Joshua a glucose drink vital to treat his condition, which could have left him with brain damage or even at risk of death.

A spokesman for the County Durham and Darlington NHS Hospital Trust denied the ward was understaffed while Joshua was being treated last week but added "clinical demands" meant nurses could not always be with a child.

Joshua suffers from Medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD), a genetic condition which causes problems breaking down fatty acids for energy.

If a sufferer goes for long periods without eating they become tired and sluggish and can suffer sickness and seizures.

Left untreated, MCADD can lead to brain and liver damage and can prove fatal.

There is no cure and treatment takes the form of glucose drinks, taken every two hours, to help the body produce energy.

Joshua, who was diagnosed at 12 days old, was admitted to the Memorial on Sunday after falling ill.

Miss Yarrow said that between Sunday and Monday evening staff on the ward were caring and attentive to Joshua, but overnight into Tuesday the situation changed.

“The glucose drinks are the only thing to help, it’s basically his form of medicine,” she said.

“But on Tuesday they just didn’t make them – I had to make it up myself in a dirty bottle using lukewarm water left from a bottle I had been drinking from because there were no facilities for me to do it properly.

“I told the nurses about how dangerous it was for him and they said ‘I’m sorry, we know it’s wrong but there’s no staff’.

“He could be left brain damaged or even die from this condition. When I complained they said they were short staffed.”

Miss Yarrow added: “I want to be clear that the nurses are usually fantastic there, but I was so upset at the way he was treated that day that I felt I had to speak out.”

In a statement, the hospital trust said: “The children’s ward was fully staffed with nurses on the given dates.

“There are other clinical demands which may mean that nurses are not able to be with a child at a particular time.

“The safety of all the children in our care and responding to changes in their condition is of paramount importance. If the family would like to discuss any aspect of care we would be very happy to do so.”