THE chief of an NHS Trust has apologised in writing to a Gwent family after their baby with meningitis had to wait over an hour to see an out-of-hours doctor.

The apology came after an investigtion by Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust when parents Rachel and Jason Jones, of Woodland Street, Blaenavon, complained about how nine-months-old Tana was dealt with. The Trust is to review the way its out-of-hours GP service deals with calls and the change over of doctors' shifts.

A GP has also apologised for any distress caused to the family, a letter from chief executive Martin Turner revealed. The Trust has apologised to the family for:

The two-hour delay in someone contacting the family after they had called the service for advice.

A breakdown in communication which led to the on-call doctor leaving the centre at Nevill Hall Hospital more than an hour before a relief doctor arrived.

The "distress" caused to the family after they became angry at the "attitude and behaviour" of the GP on call when they arrived at the centre in Abergavenny's Nevill Hall Hospital.

The doctor left the hospital around midnight before seeing Tana, and a doctor set to relieve the GP was out on emergency calls, Mr Turner's letter says.

The family finally saw a doctor at 1.10am the following morning who admitted Tana to the hospital and contacted a consultant to see the sick baby at 9.30am. A lumbar puncture test and CT scan confirmed Tana had meningitis.

The Jones family first contacted the out-of-hours service for advice at 9.25pm on Sunday, January 29, reporting that Tana had been unwell since the day before and was lethargic, and had a high temperature. They were called back at 11.29pm and were told to go to Nevill Hall for an 11.50pm appointment.

Martin Turner said the Trust was now "formalising arrangements" for shift changeovers to "ensure communication is maximised" after the doctor left Tana in the waiting room, believing her relief was arriving imminently.

Tana's family are considering seeking an NHS Wales independent inquiry to establish if somebody should be reprimanded. Tana was treated at the hospital for meningitis and is fully recovered.