The plan to radically change the way local NHS services are delivered has confirmed that acute services at Banbury’s Horton Hospital will be under review. Urgent and emergency care, obstetrics and paediatrics services at the Horton are set to be considered following the release of the draft Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) yesterday. While the plan did not reveal specifics of what the changes might be, it did confirm that the level of service at the Horton was under review and that a public consultation was likely to be launched in early January. The STP is part of a nationwide NHS initiative to change the way healthcare is delivered, concentrating on keeping patients out of hospitals and treating them in the community. There are also considerable cost-savings attached and the Oxfordshire part of the plan aims to plug a funding gap of £200 million.
Full story in The Banbury Guardian, 23 December 2016