A 20-month-old baby died after being treated for gastro-enteritis by two doctors when he actually had a blood infection, an inquest heard.

And today the tot's angry parents said they believed their son would still be alive if he had received the correct medical attention.

Ashley Stephen Critchley died at Blackburn Royal Infirmary, where doctors at first thought he had meningitis. But his mother, Sharon Critchley, said her own doctor had earlier diagnosed gastro-enteritis over the telephone.

And when an emergency doctor was called out later the same day, she confirmed the diagnosis and told Sharon to carry on with the prescribed medication.

After the inquest Sharon, of Worcester Road, Blackburn, said: "My baby's lips were turning blue when he was sick and she told me it was normal and he was getting better.

"I can't help but think that Ashley would be alive today if someone had done something, even if it had been to say take him to hospital for a proper check-up," she added.

The boy's father, Stephen Hart, said: "We feel very let down.

"If he had been given antibiotics Ashley could be alive today. Now we know all the circumstances we will have to sit down and talk about what action to take. Whatever we do, it won't bring our little boy back."

At the inquest into Ashley's death acting coroner Michael Singleton recorded a verdict of natural causes after hearing that Ashley died of bronchial pneumonia. Paediatric pathologist Dr Melanie Newbold said there was no evidence of meningitis. "However, I am sure that what he died of was the presence of organisms in the blood stream, septicemia, and it can be extremely difficult to tell that from meningitis clinically," she said.

Dr Newbold agreed with Mr Singleton that the appropriate treatment for Ashley's condition would have been antibiotics and that the Calpol and diarrhoea medication prescribed by Dr C.K. Rao would not have affected his condition.

Earlier Sharon Critchley had told how she had rung her doctor after Ashley started vomiting and developed diarrhoea. "Dr Rao said he perhaps had gastro-enteritis and he would leave a prescription for me to collect," said Sharon. She said that throughout the day Ashley was unable to keep the medication down.

An emergency doctor, whose name Sharon did not know, came to see Ashley at 9.30pm and, after examining him, confirmed the earlier diagnosis and said to continue the medication but in smaller doses.

Sharon said that Ashley continued to be sick and suffer from diarrhoea but she was reluctant to call the doctor again because she felt she had already been given the proper advice.

The evening, Stephen Hart picked Ashley up and found him to be very limp and unable to support himself.

The couple struggled to get any response from Ashley and at that stage decided to take him to hospital.

"Shortly after we arrived a doctor told us she was almost positive that Ashley had meningitis and then later we were told he would not recover," added Sharon.

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