Success for Horton Hospital Campaign

Good news for Oxfordshire's Community Hospitals today as the Secretary of State announced that there will be no downgrading of maternity and paediatric services at the Horton Hospital in Banbury. Readers of this blog will remember last year that as a member of the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny committee at the County Council, I, along with fellow members of the committee sat all day in Cherwell District Council offices giving evidence to this review. The Committee decided to call in this decision to the Secretary of State under our legistlative powers because we felt this was a sufficient change in service delivery which was not acceptable to the public. Well, our verdict has received the backing we require.

The Secretary of State for Health announced today that he has accepted in full the recommendations made by the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) to reject proposed changes to maternity, paediatric, obstetric services and the Special Care Baby Unit at the Horton Hospital in Banbury. The response states:

“The IRP, like the local NHS, recognises the importance of the Horton Hospital to the local community in Banbury and have taken on board the views of local people. Their report rejects the proposals for changing services at the Horton Hospital, but acknowledges that changes will need to be made in the future. The report makes a number of clear recommendations for both the trust and PCT to take forward together. The SHA, working with the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust and Oxfordshire PCT, will ensure that the recommendations are fully implemented and will begin working through the implications of the findings of the report.”

The full letter from the Secretary of State to South Central Strategic Health Authority can be downloaded from the SHA website at: http://www.southcentral.nhs.uk/page.php?id=279

So the campaigners have won the day. A good day for democracy and reassuring that common sense has ruled. Sometimes some things are worth all the effort. But we will still keep a watching brief because 'changes need to be made in the future' may mean the decision will come back!