A mother has accused her local GP surgery of dismissing her baby’s near-fatal case of bronchitis as ‘normal’ breathing.

Courtney Nixon, 27, says she took little Colton to Balderton Primary Care Centre in Newark, Nottinghamshire, in September after his breathing became laboured, he developed a chesty cough and failed to keep milk down for almost 48 hours.

She said: ‘They literally Googled his symptoms in front of me, and then said it was probably a viral infection and he would be fine.

‘I couldn’t believe it. I could have Googled his symptoms at home, you’d expect them to know a bit more than that.

‘I said he was struggling to breathe, but the GP told me that it was just normal newborn breathing.

‘But the following day, Colton’s breathing was still laboured, and he had stopped feeding altogether.’

Courtney returned to the surgery, where she was told the infant was just dehydrated and to take him to nearby hospital Queens Medical Centre.

When they arrived at the hospital, an oxygen check showed Colton’s oxygen levels had plummeted dangerously low and he diagnosed with bronchitis.

Courtney added: ‘Within an hour of arriving there, he was in ICU where he was put on high-pressure oxygen for three days. They were talking about intubating and ventilating him and all sorts.

‘Luckily they didn’t have to do that in the end, because they put him on a high-pressure oxygen machine, which kept his lungs open to allow air in. But it was so horrible seeing him like that.’

‘They told me that if I had not taken him in when I did, he would not have made it through the afternoon.’

Colton has since been allowed home and is breathing normally again, but Courtney, who has four other children aged between two and nine, is urging GP surgeries to carry out oxygen tests on youngsters as a matter of course.

She added: ‘I spoke to a senior doctor who said they would be making some changes and would make sure they had the right monitors to carry out oxygen tests on children.

‘It sounds like they didn’t even have the right equipment to have done so with Colton. Why should my son have been their guinea pig in order to make that happen?’

Balderton Primary Care Centre have been approached for comment.

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