North Oxfordshire MP Victoria Prentis has lobbied Parliament to introduce a new law forcing the requirement for public consultation to take place over changes to local NHS services.
It comes after Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUHT) suspended consultant-led maternity services and the special care baby unit at Banbury’s Horton Hospital this summer.
Mrs Prentis presented her first Ten Minute Rule Motion to the House on the subject of the hospital on Tuesday last week.
She raised concerns about the way the decision was taken.
In her speech she said: “I feel let down by the way we have been treated this summer, by the lack of good management, transparency or evidence-based decision-making.
“I am concerned that without change to the law, other areas may also suffer as we have.”
Mrs Prentis explained this Bill is the result of “our experience in Oxfordshire this summer” when OUHT “suspended consultant-led maternity services” with “no warning and no consultation”.
She said: “On 20th July, I was invited to what seemed a routine meeting with the Trust. I asked a member of staff to go on my behalf.
“No other Members of Parliament were asked to attend, nor of course could they have done so on a sitting Wednesday.
“I was horrified to hear the report: the Trust had failed to recruit sufficient obstetricians, and as a result The Horton would be downgraded as an emergency.
“There would be no consultation; on 31 August the Trust Board approved this. Three weeks ago obstetricians left, and we became a midwife led unit, or MLU.”
She went on to raise concerns about the distance mothers-to-be had to travel to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital and raised fears for the safety of mothers and their babies.
Mrs Prentis said: “I have repeatedly asked the Trust to see risk assessments, and have been sent nothing.
“My office eventually tracked down some risk assessments on-line, which showed an alarming number of “high risk” factors including transfer time, ambulance provision and the ability of the John Radcliffe to cope with the additional births.
“I asked for an explanation and have received nothing.”
She also questioned how the situation regarding doctors became an emergency and why concerns hadn’t been raised earlier.
In a statement OUHT said the decision to suspend services was taken under “emergency powers” as patient safety would have been “directly compromised”.
It said the trust was trying to recruit doctors and pointed out the risk assessments were published with the papers for the board meeting on August 31 under ‘risk register’.
The Bill is expected to have its second reading in parliament on Friday, January 27.
Separately, OUHT’s chief executive Dr Bruno Holthof published an open letter to North Oxfordshire residents saying he was “committed” to the Horton.
He said: “As the Banbury and North Oxfordshire populations continue to grow I know that the Horton hospital must also develop and grow in order to deliver quality healthcare services fit for the 21st century.
“At the Trust we have both the will, and the commitment of significant financial investment, to make this development possible and we have been focused for some years on developing plans for the Horton’s sustainability.”
Article originally published by Oxfordshire Guardian
