Dad borrowed £10k to solve 'beetroot baby' mystery

A father has told how he had to borrow thousands of pounds to pay for "life-saving" private tests and treatment after an NHS hospital failed to diagnose his baby son's food allergy.

Ray, 35, formerly of Laindon, Essex, said doctors failed to send Hayden, then aged four months, for tests, despite severe eczema and his skin changing to the colour of "beetroot".

The leading specialist who treated Hayden privately said there was a lack of training for student doctors in how to diagnose allergies in children.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust said it was sorry Hayden's family was unhappy with the care he received and asked them to get in touch.

Ray, who asked for his surname not to be used, said Hayden's problems began when he started breastfeeding at 18 weeks old.

He was constantly crying and "just became a massive beetroot", swelling up and turning red, said Ray.

"But this was not a normal cry. This was a cry for help," he said.

After he was seen by a GP, Hayden was referred to St Thomas' Hospital in Lambeth, south London.

Hayden was not tested for an allergy but doctors prescribed a steroid cream for the eczema and gave him milk alternatives to try.

However, he did not improve.

"When we were waiting for the NHS, these was no urgency there," said Ray, a personal trainer.

"Eventually, we just had enough."

Ray borrowed about £10,000 from friends and family to pay for private treatment, including at a clinic specialising in childhood allergies.

“If we waited any longer my son would probably be in a worse situation than he was, and he was already pretty bad," he said.

"Within a few hours" it was discovered that Hayden was allergic to eggs, which had been present in his mother's breast milk, and "within a few days" the inflammation went down.

Two years on, Hayden now avoids eating egg and has fully recovered.

"He is amazing. He is just enjoying normal kid life, and it would have never happened had we not found a private doctor because she has literally saved his life," said Ray.

He and his family have since moved to Hong Kong and are still paying friends and family back.

“I don't mean to... talk down on doctors or anything like that. I do appreciate they do a lot for us," he said.

"It's just that they're dealt a very bad hand, because they are overstretched and overworked."

Hayden was seen by a number of doctors before he was treated by Prof Helen Brough, one of the UK's leading child allergy specialists.

"He required multidisciplinary input with management of his eczema," she said.

"He also had reflux and had poor weight gain and he also had the food allergies.

"So what he needed was somebody to bring everything together, because you have to manage all of these aspects to help a child thrive."

Data shows that dangerous allergic reactions are rising in England and now cause some 25,000 NHS hospital stays a year,

Prof Brough said: "I see a lot in my clinic that children are developing allergies sooner and earlier in life.”

Asked whether doctors had enough training in spotting the signs of food allergies, she said: “I think that there is a lack of allergy training in undergraduates.

"This has been reviewed in a survey in 2019 that showed that allergy placement was only compulsory in under a third of UK universities, and in a third of UK universities less than 10% of undergraduates had had the opportunity."

A spokesperson for Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are sorry Hayden’s family were unhappy with the care they received at Guy’s and St Thomas’.

"We would encourage them to contact us directly to address any concerns they may have.”

NHS England said it was the responsibility of medical schools to implement the Outcomes for Graduates standards.

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