A two-year-old boy suffering acute kidney failure was diagnosed with a sore throat and sent home by an out-of-hours doctor, his mother claims.

Distraught mum Julie Smithers told the Thamesdoc clinic medic covering the out-of-hours service at Epsom Hospital that toddler Luke was very unwell and had blood in his nappy.

But Mrs Smithers claims she was only told Luke’s throat was infected and to take him to her own GP for a urine test the following day.

Instead the concerned mum took him to East Surrey Hospital where doctors admitted him immediately.

The next day he was transferred to a special renal unit at St Thomas’s Hospital where he spent almost a week receiving treatment and undergoing tests. She has written a letter of compaint to Thamesdoc which has promised to investigate.

Mrs Smithers, from Northacre, Banstead, said: “The staff at East Surrey and St Thomas’ were brilliant but I am absolutely disgusted with Thamesdoc.”

“When we were seen by the consultant at East Surrey he said Luke’s kidneys had shut down and he wanted to send him to St Thomas’.”

Luke is now back at home but he must return to the London hospital for further scans and investigations. Doctors think a temporary blockage caused his problems but will carry out further tests on the toddler.

Mrs Smithers and her husband Lee called Thamesdoc for a home visit on Sunday, January 11, after becoming seriously worried about Luke who was crying and in pain and had been sick. He had been ill for a couple of days but his condition suddenly deteriorated.

Thamesdoc, the service employed by Surrey PCT to provide out-of-hours GP services, told the couple to take Luke down to an emergency Thamesdoc clinic held at Epsom General Hospital.

“I don’t think the doctor looked at him properly. "She looked at his throat which was a bit red and said he had a throat infection. I was very unhappy and my sister-in-law said to take him to East Surrey Hospital. "We were seen very quickly and they told us that we would be staying overnight.”

In the morning Luke was transferred to the St Thomas’s hospital with acute renal failure.

“I don’t like to think what might have happened if we hadn’t taken Luke to another hospital,” said Mrs Smithers.

“If the Thamesdoc doctor didn’t know what was wrong with him she should have done tests, sent him up to a ward or at least got a second opinion. Thank goodness East Surrey Hospital took it seriously.”

Stephen Price, chief executive at Thamesdoc said: “Due to patient confidentiality we are unable to comment on the care of individual patients. "However, we do fully investigate any issues that are raised with us. If Mrs Smithers wishes to contact us directly we will of course fully investigate her concerns.”