Two-year-old Daniel Franklin was born without a diaphragm and spends each night at the Queen's Medical Centre because he needs overnight supervision with his ventilator.

In spring last year, doctors decided he was ready to be at home full-time, and funding for a home-based care team, that would care for several children in the area including Daniel, was granted in August, three months later.

But Daniel's parents are still waiting, and still driving their son back to hospital each night.

Dad, Rob Franklin, said: "It's an absolute nightmare because we don't have any normality. I don't get any time at all with him because I finish work at 5.30pm and have to take him back a couple of hours later, so I don't get to tuck him in bed and do all the normal things."

Mr Franklin, of Sanders Close, Shipley Estate, said despite the funding for the team being granted in August, the hospital did not advertise for the jobs until January.

He said: "They sat around for six months doing nothing. There's also been various issues of getting paperwork passed and getting things signed. It's been one thing after another."

Currently a carer is provided once a week. But the hospital staff told the couple they would have two nights a week supervision by the end of September, and four nights by the end of October.

Mr Franklin, 33, said: "It just doesn't look like this will be possible because out of a team of eight carers, two are soon going on maternity leave, I think there's one off sick and another on annual leave."

He said: "He's now crying his eyes out when we leave him because he's starting to realise it's not normal. He used to give us a bit of a smile but now he just cries his eyes out. He's now starting to realise that he should be at home chasing the cat, not at hospital.

"It's a lot of upheaval for our other two boys as well because they come with us every night to take him back and don't get to bed until 8.30pm or 9pm at night. Thomas regularly cries because he wants him home."

Daniel spent the first 18 months of his life in hospital, moving from Nottingham City to the Queen's Medical Centre.

His diaphragm was repaired when he was four days old but, at 10 weeks, his health suffered a serious setback when he caught pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia. He has had repeated chest infections since.

Rob Franklin and Daniel's mum, Julie Potter-Tate, complained to Derbyshire County Primary Care Trust and were told on Tuesday that their son will have four nights supervision by the end of the month and will hopefully be discharged fully by the end of the year.

A spokesperson for the PCT said: "We are working closely with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to resolve this complex clinical issue, and would like to assure the patient's family that we are doing everything possible to ensure that the patient is discharged from hospital as soon as possible."