A dedicated doctor with experience in hospital A and E departments says she is being kept from contributing her skills in the current crisis - because the trust responsible for child care in Slough will not fund proper care for her disabled child.

Doctor Afshan Khan and her husband look after their daughter Noor, nine, who has a metabolic condition that leaves her unable to walk. She suffers involuntary shaking movements and has no immunity to illnesses.

Doctor Khan said she had to battle with Slough Children's Services Trust to get help and support she wanted over a five year period.

She wants to return to work to bring her professional skills towards helping in the current Coronavirus crisis. But she says a decision by the trust to reduce the grant towards paying for a carer from £8 an hour to £5 has made it impossible for her to afford that support.

She said: "I used to work as an A and E doctor and a trust has offered me accommodation and food for six weeks to help. But I can't take it up because I have to care for my daughter."

She said the Slough Children's Trust had refused to accept how ill her daughter was. 

The ombudsman for Local Government and Social Services has upheld a complaint made by Doctor Khan, agreeing that the children's trust delayed too long before carrying out a carer's assessment and did not escalate her subsequent complaint to an appropriate level.

A spokesman for the Slough Children's Services Trust said it did not comment on individual cases, adding: "It is for individual families to assess what is best for their own children and family situation and whether that involves their personal decision to go to work. The trust does not have a remit to support families employment or prevent it. We are operating a business as usual approach to our services."