Banbury and Bicester Conservatives are deeply disappointed to learn that the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is to recommend that the temporary downgrade of the Horton General Hospital’s maternity unit be made permanent.
We have repeatedly expressed our concerns that a permanent downgrade would not provide a service that works in the best interest of Horton catchment patients. Patient safety and the care outcomes of local mothers and babies have always been our motivation in standing up against these plans. The genuine real-life birthing experience of local mothers cannot continue to be overlooked. Local geography has not changed. Quite simply the JR is far too far from Banbury.
In their recommendations, the CCG has pledged to regularly review maternity provision at the Horton. We will hold them to account on that promise. Banbury is not an outpost and our residents, especially our mothers and babies, should not have to bear the brunt of the Oxford-centric agenda of the CCG and Oxfordshire University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUHFT).
We strongly urge them to reconsider and vote against accepting the recommendation on 26 September.
This proposal does not reflect the tireless local campaign in which Banburyshire residents, the Keep the Horton General group (KTHG) and local politicians have been united in determination to reverse the downgrade.
As a community, we will now have to regroup. We remain committed to standing with residents and will continue to work with partners, and Victoria Prentis MP, to take every step we can. We cannot and we will not give up. #HandsoffourHorton
