Sick babies turned away by hospitals

They were among almost 700 patients who have been diverted or transferred in the last 12 months, with many sent as far as Northampton, Brighton, Southampton, Cambridge, Hertfordshire and Kent.

A baby needing a special care cot and a heart and lung bypass machine was sent 400 miles to a hospital in Glasgow. A boy born prematurely died after he was taken 120 miles in an ambulance to Bristol. Dr Bob Winter, president of the Intensive Care Society, said transfers of such distances put lives at "serious risk".

"Quite obviously the health of a critically ill person will deteriorate in the back of a moving ambulance," he said. "The bigger the distance travelled, the more dangerous the situation.

"We would like to see 95 per cent of patients treated at the hospital they present at and not so many carted around the country."

One junior doctor working in London, who did not wish to be named, said transferring patients, especially children, was " like a horrendous game of musical chairs", adding: "Earlier this week a woman died while waiting for us to find her suitable alternative accommodation.

"The situation is immensely distressing but the only solution is to get funds for more intensive care beds."

In March Angela Borzoni, 69, died of a cardiac arrest after she was transferred from the Whittington Hospital following an operation to remove her spleen. Despite her fragile state she was taken on a 50-mile trip to Bedford.

Dr Allan Goldman, an intensive care consultant at Great Ormond Street Hospital, which has had to transfer 55 children and babies this year, said hospitals were often faced with challenging situations which concerned clinical complications as well as bed shortages.

"Patients do sometimes have to be taken to the other end of the country," said Dr Goldman. "Clearly the nearest or most appropriate centre is used wherever possible."

Many hospitals in the capital are running at an average of 90 per cent occupancy for intensive care and high-dependency beds. Figures released to the Evening Standard following a Freedom of Information request reveal that of the 20 London hospital trusts which responded, there are 508 high dependency beds - and just 169 for children and babies.

A spokesman for the Emergency Bed Service - responsible for coordinating transfers - said it was struggling to cope with the demand. He said: "Difficult decisions have to be made in the best interests of the patient concerned." A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "There has been a 47 per cent increase in critical care beds since 2000."