Oxfordshire community hospitals 'at risk'

Wantage Community Hospital is one of nine community hospitals in Oxfordshire that could be under threat according to the Green Party.

The "elimination" of Oxfordshire's nine community hospitals is being considered by health bosses, according to the Green Party.

It said the move was part of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan for Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group said community services were being "reviewed".

It added: "What this means for community hospitals needs more work".

In a motion to Oxford City Council, the Green Party said the community hospitals could be replaced by four hubs including one at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

The party's spokesperson for health, Larry Sanders, said: "This is not a decision, this is part of the process, but it does look like they may be in for the chop.

"One of the problems is they [Oxfordshire CCG] are not giving us a lot of information. We do fear that it's going to happen because the size of the cuts are enormous."

In November it was revealed, the part of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan affecting community hospitals will be outlined after next May.

Oxfordshire CCG said: "We will be engaging clinicians, patients, and the public as we develop these plans and proposed changes to services will be subject to consultation."

The CCG has estimated it will face a funding gap of £200m in 2020 unless action is taken.

Mark Dayan, from the Nuffield Trust, said funding pressures across the NHS meant "very tough decisions are going to have to be made in nearly every area of the country."