A hospital trust at the centre of an inquiry into the death of a patient given the wrong injection during an operation has made a second error in a week.

A three-year-old boy, who was showing symptoms of meningitis, was given at least four times the recommended dosage of an anti-viral drug at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Sick Children in Brighton early yesterday morning.

The hospital is operated by Brighton Health Care NHS Trust, which also runs the Royal Sussex County Hospital where a patient died three days after being given a painkilling drug in the vein instead of the spine during an operation last Wednesday.

The trust has launched a full investigation into the latest incident and the boy's family has been told.

The child, who was admitted to the hospital on Monday night, was given the drug through a drip.

It is not believed to have had any bad effects on the child as staff were able to rectify the problem but the news will concern patients worried about last week's incident.

In a statement, trust chief executive Stuart Welling said: "I can confirm a mistake has occurred in a complex calculation of drug dosage.

"Regrettably the error was not identified by a second member of staff during the routine checking process.

"However, the miscalculation was picked up before a second dose of the drug could be administered.

"I would wish to offer my sincere apologies to the parents. I recognise this has added to their distress."

The boy has now been transferred to Guy's hospital in London for further treatment of his symptoms.