A Newtownards mother was forced to seek emergency help from hospital staff after her local Boots pharmacy failed to supply her six-year-old son’s prescribed liquid feed.

Leyton Herron, who is in remission from leukaemia and lives with a severe form of epilepsy, is fed through a peg tube directly into his stomach. All his nutrition comes from a specialist liquid feed.

Last week his mother, Samantha Herron, attended Boots in Stonegate to collect a repeat prescription. Staff told her the standard 500ml bottles were unavailable but 250ml bottles could be obtained with an amended prescription. After arranging a new prescription through her GP, she returned and was then told the feed was not available at all.

Ms Herron said Boots offered several explanations and later apologised, but the earliest the medication could be sourced was Friday June 5. The family had to ration their remaining supply while seeking help elsewhere.

The Community Children’s Nursing team in Scrabo and staff at the Ulster Hospital provided eight bottles to cover the shortfall. The hospital later arranged for a courier to deliver a box of feed directly to the family.

Ms Herron has lodged a formal complaint. She said she has lost confidence in Boots and has changed to a different pharmacist. She added that a pharmacy suggestion to use baby formula was not suitable because her son’s stomach is too sensitive.

A Boots spokeswoman said the company was very sorry and apologised for the inconvenience. She attributed the problem to a technical error that prevented the pharmacy team from accessing stock information.

Ms Herron called for greater understanding and support for children with complex medical needs to ensure no other family faces a similar situation.