[dropcap type =”circle”]V[/dropcap]ictoria Prentis, MP for North Oxfordshire, attended the first of twelve public consultation meetings, organised by the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (OCCG).
The OCCG has launched the first phase of the Oxfordshire Transformation Programme, ‘The Big Health and Care Consultation’. As part of the process, a number of public meetings are being organised across Oxfordshire.
Held in St Mary’s Church Banbury, Thursday’s meeting was attended by nearly 500 people from Banbury and its surrounding areas. The meeting took the format of a presentation of the proposals by panellists, including representatives from the OCCG and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUHFT), followed by questions from the public to the panel.
Victoria expressed her concerns about the splitting of the consultation, as well as the distance from the Banbury area to the hospitals in Oxford. Questions from the public included queries about training rotation at the Horton, parking at the John Radcliffe (JR), stroke care, the future of the Horton maternity unit, and the transparency of the consultation process.
Following the meeting, Victoria said: “While I have concerns about the consultation process, it is vital that my constituents have a proper say over the future of services at the Horton General Hospital. Thursday’s meeting was well-mannered, but showed how much public support there is for the Horton. The meeting was particularly short on detail, and I do not feel that we were given sufficient evidence. The process does not provide a holistic approach to the issues we face in Banbury, or enough information for the public to make an informed decision.”
To view the consultation documents, please visit www.oxonhealthcaretransformation.nhs.uk/.
Upcoming local consultation meetings:
Thursday 2 February- 2-4pm (Chipping Norton, venue to be confirmed)
Tuesday 21 February- 3-5pm (Weyland Hall, Bicester)
Monday 27 February- 10.30am-12.30pm (Brackley, venue to be confirmed)
Thursday 16 March- 7-9pm (Banbury, venue to be confirmed)
To apply for your free ticket to a meeting, email cscsu.talkinghealth@nhs.net, with your preferred event, full name, and contact number.
