A FURIOUS father was left begging for treatment for his severely sick two-year-old after a hospital prescribed Calpol and bed rest.

Little Grace Golby was eventually diagnosed with E.coli and needed intravenous antibiotics to clear up her symptoms, which included uncontrollable shaking and turning blue.

Her father Neil Evans, from Hailsham, is now issuing a formal complaint about the way his family was dealt with at Eastbourne District General Hospital earlier this month.

The ordeal began at 5pm on Sunday, August 20, when Grace suddenly became very cold, with blue lips and mottled skin, and started shaking uncontrollably.

Her frightened parents called 999 and an ambulance took her to the EDGH.

Car salesman Neil said: “We were seen soon after we arrived and told there was nothing to worry about. They said to give her Calpol and she will be fine.”

Neil and his partner Hayley Golby were sent home and told to get a urine sample from their daughter, which proved impossible.

At 3am the infant began shaking and crying again but 999 operators told Neil that paramedics would not return to the house based on previous advice from the hospital.

So instead they drove their daughter to the EDGH.

But staff there would not admit Grace on to a ward and refused to issue a prescription until they could take a urine sample and recommended again that the family go home and see a GP in the morning.

Neil explained: “It was totally unacceptable

“We were frightened parents.

“I didn’t know what was the matter and they just weren’t helping.

“We were frightened because we didn’t know what the problem was and they made us feel totally helpless.

“My daughter wouldn’t stop shivering, her lips were blue, her skin was cold.”

After sitting in the hospital reception for more than five hours, and having been awake all night, the couple took Grace to the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton at 8am.

She was admitted immediately, a urine sample was drawn by catheter and she was diagnosed with an E.coli infection for which she was prescribed intravenous antibiotics.

Neil said: “The way we were treated at the Alex was fantastic. They really understand how a parent feels when their most prized possession is sick.

“After four days of IV antibiotics Grace is back to herself.”

The family are now on holiday in Camber Sands and Neil has contacted the ombudsman service PALS to report his experiences at the Eatsbourne hospital.

The Argus contacted East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust yesterday morning for comment but the Trust did not respond to our inquiry.