AN angry father has criticised staff at a military hospital who refused his nine-year-old daughter treatment because she was not registered there.

Paul Barlow, of Falkland Road, Catterick Garrison, said a receptionist at the Duchess of Kent military hospital in Catterick, would not allow his daughter, Jade, to be treated despite suffering from a nasty injury to her leg.

Jade had cut her leg when she tripped over a concrete bollard as she walked to Le Cateau School with her father on Friday morning.

Mr Barlow, a corporal with the regimental police, in Sandhurst, said: "She said that her leg hurt and when I rolled up her trouser leg it was just a mass of blood

"As she was walking, there were spots of blood falling on to the ground. I was really worried.

"I didn't know what the matter was, she could have broken her shin or some-thing.

"We were right outside the Duchess of Kent hospital, so I went in there."

However, when he explained the problem to a receptionist, he was told that as Jade was not registered at the hospital she could not be treated.

Mr Barlow had to return home with Jade where he cleaned the wound and then took her to the Harewood medical centre, in Catterick, where Jade was registered.

Fortunately, the wound was not too serious and was bandaged using sterile strips.

Mr Barlow said: "This could have been a lot worse.

"The receptionist should not be allowed to make the decision that she should not be treated.

"I know that none of the medical staff would have had a problem treating her.

"Luckily, I was back on leave but normally my wife walks Jade to school.We have a son who uses a wheelchair and our other son is still in a pushchair. My wife would have had a lot of difficulty getting them all to Harewood."

An Army spokesman said: "Accident and emergency functions at the hospital closed four years ago and the nearest ones are at the Friarage, in Northallerton, and at Darlington Memorial Hospital.

"If immediate first-aid was needed, treatment would have been given. The best place for a patient to be treated is the place that holds their medical records and knows their medical history.

"Catterick has a practice which has specialist facilities to treat minor injuries and a patient with those injuries would be referred there if they did not require life-saving treatment.