A judge has ruled in favour of local Councils fighting against proposed downgrades to acute services at the Horton General Hospital.
Cherwell District Council, South Northamptonshire Council, Stratford-upon-Avon District Council and Banbury Town Council are seeking a judicial review into the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) consultation on changes to Horton services including maternity, critical care, and hospital bed use. The councils have consistently argued that the CCG’s consultation was inadequate, flawed in its two-part construction and confusing for residents who wanted to have their say on the future of their local hospital.
On Tuesday, 5 September at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Mr Justice Fraser ruled the Councils should be granted a three-day hearing at which they can challenge the way in which the consultation was run and make the case for a full judicial review. It is expected that the hearing will take place later in 2017.
Speaking after the ruling was announced Councillor Barry Wood, Leader of Cherwell District Council commented: “The decision is good news, but it is by no means the end of the battle. We are pleased that we shall have the opportunity to have our concerns, and those of local residents, heard by a judge at a proper hearing. We are resolved to do right for the areas we serve and will continue our fight for a full judicial review.”
The ruling runs in parallel with three referrals to the Secretary of State for Health regarding the consultation process and the CCGs decisions for the Horton.
Victoria Prentis, Member of Parliament for North Oxfordshire, said: “I am absolutely delighted to hear that permission has been granted for a full hearing of the councils’ Judicial Review application. From the very beginning, it was clear that the Clinical Commissioning Group’s Phase One consultation was fatally flawed. North Oxfordshire is united in its opposition to the content and process which has been used.
Having sought assurances that no changes to maternity services will be made at the Horton until the judicial review and referrals to the Secretary of State have run their course, I will now write to the Clinical Commissioning Group once again to urge them to abandon their Phase One consultation in its entirety. At the same time, I will do all I can to assist the councils with their preparations for the full hearing.”