A newborn baby recovering from meningitis was fed milk two months past its best-before date during his stay on a "filthy" hospital ward.

Damian Law says his grandson Arlo has been subjected to "disgusting" treatment since being admitted to hospital with the life-threatening bacterial infection.

The issue with the formula - discovered only when a nurse revealed "your milk's off, love" - is just one of a catalogue of failures the family say they've experienced at the William Harvey in Ashford.

Arlo's mum, Brittany, took him to hospital on August 15, when he was just nine days old, after becoming increasingly worried about him - despite a midwife at a local trust reportedly telling her he simply needed more sun.

After the pair made the journey from their family home in Tenterden alongside grandad Damian, the family say they were left shocked by the "absolutely filthy" state of the ward, as well as a series of bungles.

"Firstly, they got Brittany's name wrong, then they said they had Arlo on their system as a girl," Mr Law explained.

"They also had two NHS numbers for him - one under his dad's surname and one under [Brittany's]. They then asked where his twin was – he never had one!

"I only found all of this out shortly afterwards when she rang me up, as I wasn't allowed in with them.

"She was obviously scared and upset that he had an infection, and that just made it worse."

As bizarre and upsetting as the experience was for the 21-year-old mum and her family, worse was to come.

"She and Arlo have been there for nine days now, and the ward has not been properly cleaned in that time," Mr Law said.

"The floor was absolutely filthy, there's no other way to describe it. I went over there myself and gave it a mop, and each disposable wipe came back filthy.

"There were plasters in the shower, and her sheets weren't changed for four days. When she finally asked for them to be changed, she was given clean sheets but had to change them herself.

"Every time I came to visit I saw these hot chocolate stains on the stairs; as of speaking right now, they are still there."

Extraordinarily, another alarming incident was to follow.

After a week in the hospital undergoing antibiotic treatment, it emerged baby Arlo had been drinking baby formula for days that was two months past its best-before date.

A shocked nurse broke the news to the flabbergasted mum and grandad after making the discovery shortly after coming on shift.

"The nurse in question was fantastic - it was her first shift with us and she took one look at the milk and said 'your milk's off, love!'," explained Mr Law.

"She showed us the bottle and it was almost two months past – so about four times as out of date as Arlo had been alive.

"The entire box of bottles was off - so he had been drinking the expired milk for about two days.

"I simply couldn't believe it. It was absolutely the last straw for me."

Following blood tests, Arlo - now 22 days old - has since been given the all-clear from meningitis and is expected to be discharged on Monday.

However, Mr Law, 42, says the harrowing series of mishaps has left his daughter afraid to continue their stay at the hospital.

"To keep a newborn baby – already extremely vulnerable and with an even weaker immune system because of the meningitis – in those conditions is appalling," he said.

"To then feed him expired milk is beyond ridiculous.

"She is scared to be in there but has to stay with Arlo until he finishes his course of antibiotics.

After KentOnline reached out to the East Kent Hospitals Trust – which runs the William Harvey – for comment, Mr Law says there was a "flurry of activity" in the ward.

"All of a sudden they came round in a blind panic looking for things to clean, and have now moved her to a new room," he said.

"We're glad things have improved somewhat but it doesn't make up for the appalling situation Brittany and Arlo were put into.

"It shouldn't have to take us going to the press to get basic treatment."

Sarah Shingler, chief nursing and midwifery officer at the trust, said: “We are very sorry that this family’s experience fell short of the standards we work hard to provide for our patients and we are addressing their concerns.

“As soon as the batch of formula was discovered, it was immediately removed from our stores and reported - we are currently looking into how this happened to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”