PARENTS of a four-month-old baby who developed breathing problems had to stay up all night to watch her because there was nowhere to get medicine within 30 miles of High Wycombe.

Raul Pinto-Ocana, 33, who lives in Chairborough Road, High Wycombe, and daughter Elissa fell ill on Monday night and were told to go to an out-of-hours doctor at Wycombe Hospital.

Mr Pinto-Ocana received treatment at the hospital and baby Elissa was given a prescription, but the nearest 24-hour pharmacist was in Old Brompton Road, London 30.7 miles away.

He said: "I was not about to drive 60 miles with my baby who wasn't well.

"It is taking the mickey giving you a prescription when you can't use it. It is unbelievable that it should be much easier to find a pub open 24 hours for yobs to get drunk, and there is no available chemist for my daughter."

He and his wife Priyam decided to stay up all night watching Elissa, fearing the worst.

A healthcare worker himself, Mr Pinto-Ocana said: "We were lucky because she was all right but she might not have been.

"We both know a little first aid and were ready to use it and run out to the hospital.

"She was coughing and it was making her sick."

Mrs Pinto-Ocana, who works at the Maryfield Family Support group in Cressex, said: "What is the point of a hospital not having a chemist? We were all up all night, and I did not know which of them to look after."

The couple moved to High Wycombe eight years ago from Spain, and said that in his home country local chemists work to time rotas so that somewhere in a town is always open.

A spokesman for Buckinghamshire Primary Care Trust said: "We do not have a 24-hour pharmacy service. The out-of-hours GP carries a limited stock of drugs, but these will only be issued in an emergency situation. In non-emergency situations patients may be advised to collect medication from a local pharmacy during normal opening times. This should be clearly explained."