A BABY could not be transferred from one North-East hospital to another because the wrong ambulance was sent to take it.

Paramedics refused to drive the infant from the University Hospital of North Durham to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI), in Newcastle, because their ambulance could not carry the child's stretcher.

The ambulance was one of a number of new vehicles bought by the North-East Ambulance Service (NEAS) which conform to new European standards but which cannot carry certain types of stretchers.

All the hospitals in the region will be converting their stretchers in the next few months to fit the new ambulances.

Meanwhile, the ambulance service uses a database to ensure the right type of ambulance is despatched for hospital transfers.

The incident involving the baby, last November, was brought to the attention of the clinical governance committee of County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals NHS Trust as a "serious untoward incident".

A NEAS spokeswoman said: "On this occasion, when assessing on arrival the vehicle was not appropriate, a replacement vehicle was dispatched and the infant was transferred to the RVI.

"Due to patient confidentiality we are unable to give specific details of the particular circumstances in this case."

Hospitals Trust spokesman Martin Hutchinson said: "The baby suffered no harm as a result and the transfer did go ahead."

The new ambulances mean patients are better protected in the event of a crash and will eventually become the only type of vehicle used by NEAS.

Colin Cessford, director of clinical standards and quality for NEAS, said: "We are going to have to get the hospital departments to change their stretchers over a period of time.

"In the meantime, they have got to let us know what type of stretcher they have got so we send the appropriate type of vehicle.

"In about six months' time, there will be more new vehicles than old. At the moment, we have got more old than new, but I'm not aware that there are any problems at all."