Yesterday, Oxfordshire’s Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) referred the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CGG) decision to permanently downgrade consultant-led maternity services at the Horton General Hospital, to the Secretary of State for Health.
The letter – the full text which can be read via the attachment – contextualises the Horton decision, criticises the CCG for their “steadfast refusal” to fully investigate alternative models for a consultant-led maternity service in Banbury and sets out the reasons for referral. These have been summarised below.
- The needs of local people have not changed, and the arguments set out in the 2008 IRP judgement still apply. In 2008, the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) concluded that transferring obstetric maternity and paediatric provision (including special care and emergency gynaecology services) from the Horton to Oxford did not provide an accessible or improved service to the people of North Oxfordshire. Whilst there was an acceptance by the HOSC committee that recruiting and retaining suitably qualified staff to maintain an obstetric unit at the Horton was challenging at this time, they did not consider this just cause for removing the service when the fundamental healthcare needs of local expectant mothers have not changed since the last IRP decision. Furthermore, the Trust have demonstrated their ability to successfully recruit to the required specialist posts – with 7 of the 9 obstetricians needed to safely run the unit enlisted – despite the uncertainty over the unit’s future.
- The population of North Oxfordshire is set to grow. Across the Cherwell District new homes are being built at a rate 5 times the national average with the population in the Banbury area expected to rise 14% by 2026. By its own admission, the downgrade of maternity services in Banbury forms part of the CCG’s 5-year plan for Oxfordshire healthcare services. This short-term focus is “foolhardy, weakens resilience and does not in any away adequately consider the population growth in the north of the county.”
- Ongoing issues with travel and access from the Horton to the JR for expectant mothers. Echoing the qualitative evidence of Banburyshire residents - which the CCG has ignored by simply using google maps to track travel times from Banbury to Oxford - the letter stresses the difficulties experienced by patients accessing healthcare at the JR.
- The lack of a clear picture for countywide maternity services as a result of the two-phased consultation. The “inadequate” two-phase consultation has obscured a complete picture for the future of the County’s maternity services including the impact of permanently removing the obstetric unit at the Horton on MLU’s at Chipping Norton, Wallingford and Wantage.
HOSC’s referral comes after months of tireless campaigning from Banburyshire residents, the Keep the Horton General Group (KTHG) and local politicians who have all displayed a united front, fighting against the centralisation of the Horton’s acute services to the JR.
Speaking after the letter was sent, Chairman of HOSC, Deddington County Councillor Arash Fatemian said: “HOSC has engaged extensively with the CCG in an effort to exhaust all other alternatives before referral. It is hugely disappointing that Banbury is in this position again just 10 years on from the IRP’s last set of findings. I am grateful to HOSC committee members for their support on this issue and to representatives from all corners of the community for making their views known while asking serious questions about the validity of the decisions made. I look forward to hearing from the Secretary of State on the next steps.”
Victoria Prentis, Member of Parliament for North Oxfordshire welcomed the referral. “While I was disappointed that the CCG went ahead with their proposals despite widespread opposition, I am pleased that HOSC has referred the maternity decision. The Secretary of State is well aware of the issues we are facing locally. I am sure that he will look at the referral carefully.”
Banbury and Bicester Conservatives thank HOSC for their intervention and urge the Secretary of State for Health to refer the matter to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel.
