A mother took her daughter for medical tests for conditions she didn’t have and gave her medication that would not have been prescribed by doctors in the UK, a jury has been told.

Health professionals, police and social services became involved after an article written by the girl’s mother was seen by her father, Worcester Crown Court heard.

He had already written a number of letters about the amount of medical assessments the girl, now aged 16, was having and he contacted her GP.

There were “significant concerns,” medical expert Dr Sally Stucke told a jury. She was giving evidence in the trial of Mary Kidson, of Dymock Road, Ledbury, who denies three charges of unlawfully and maliciously administering a poison or noxious substance to her daughter, who cannot be named for legal reasons. She is said to have given her hydrocortisone tablets, oestrogen and thyroid extract so as to endanger life or cause grievous bodily harm between December, 2010 and March, 2013.

Dr Stucke, a consultant paediatrician, told the jury she had been called in to give a child protection assessment on March 5, 2013. She said she had looked at the girl’s medical records from her early school years when she was diagnosed as having special educational needs. .

As she grew up, her mother involved health professionals in Herefordshire Primary Care Trust, Hereford County Hospital and also at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Great Ormond Street in London, sometimes making return visits within days during 2011. The girl was referred for ultra sound and MRI scans among other tests which showed normal results.

In December, 2012, following her father’s letter, social services became involved and there was a multi agency meeting with police and health professionals, Dr Stucke said.

She examined the girl’s medical records and there was no evidence of her having being prescribed any of the three medications by UK doctors. She did not have the conditions they were intended to treat.

Dr Stucke agreed with John Causer, prosecuting, that there was a difference of opinion between doctors in the UK and an international body headed by Thierry Hertoghe of Belgium which held a different view about treatment. Mr Causer has told the jury Kidson went “doctor shopping” internationally until she found one who agreed with her.

The trial continues.