A four-week-old baby ended up in a hospital oxygen tent after his worried parents drove 20 miles late at night after claiming they were told there was no emergency doctors' car available to come to their home.

Sharon Wilson with her four-week-old son Matthew.

Sharon Wilson, 30, and her husband Chris, 34, of Ulleskelf, near Tadcaster, now plan to make an official complaint to the North Yorkshire Emergency Doctors' service based in Monkgate, York.

Mrs Wilson said she phoned the service just before 10pm on Monday after becoming worried about her baby Matthew.

She said: "He was very listless and sleepy, and had a nasty cough and runny nose. I also couldn't get him to feed and was worried about dehydration. "We knew there was something wrong with Matthew, but when we phoned the Emergency Doctors' Service we were told there was only one mobile unit available for the whole of the York district.

"They were apparently busy rushing another baby into hospital at the time, and it was a case of either sitting and waiting or driving through to York ourselves." Becoming increasingly anxious, Mrs Wilson said they had to take their baby out into the cold night air, along with their two-year-old son, Joseph, dressed in pyjamas and dressing gown.

She said: "When we arrived at Monkgate, the emergency doctor immediately referred us to York District Hospital. Matthew was suffering from bronchiolitis, which was affecting his breathing and feeding. His condition deteriorated while we were in hospital, and on Tuesday afternoon he was put in an oxygen tent and fed through a tube. We finally came home with Matthew yesterday afternoon."

North Yorkshire Emergency Doctors' general manager, Mark Cockerton, said Mrs Wilson was phoned by a doctor and advised to bring her baby into the primary care centre in Monkgate.

He said two cars were available at all times, but one or both may have been out at that time. Doctors could also use their own cars in an emergency, but often they could offer a speedier service if people came into the centre.

He said Mrs Wilson's baby was admitted into hospital in just over an hour from the first call.

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