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Meeting to discuss overhaul of Horton adjourned
11/10/2021
The Horton Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee had to be adjourned
By Andy Mitchell, Local Democracy Reporter
A meeting to run the rule over plans for a complete overhaul of Horton General Hospital has been delayed.
Oxfordshire University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust last month filed an expression of interest (EOI) in the government’s Health Infrastructure Programme (HIP) which aims to build 40 new hospitals by 2030.
Redevelopment has been on the agenda for several years with the trust seeking to “replace the Horton General Hospital in its entirety” if it can secure the funding from the latest round of allocations. Funding for eight new hospitals is set to be sanctioned by the Department of Health and Social Care in spring 2022.
Under the current plans, the wholly rebuilt hospital would be almost double the size of the Horton site with a diagnostic hub, increased day case and short-stay treatment, new maternity facilities and a multi-story car park.
An extra 28 treatment cubicles, six general practitioner (GP) streaming rooms, two MRI scanners, a CT scanner, four operating theatres and 58 beds are set to be included to help deal with “a growing population” around the Banbury site that serves areas of Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire.
The Horton Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee had been set to come together on Monday (October 11) but with West Northamptonshire Council yet to put forward a delegate and Warwickshire’s Councillor Clare Golby unable to attend, the meeting had to be adjourned.
Councillor Eddie Reeves (Con, Banbury Calthorpe), leader of the opposition at Oxfordshire County Council, said the short delay was not of concern and that it would not put the brakes on the proposals.
“I don’t think it will hinder progress,” said Cllr Reeves.
“The matter is with the trust. The committee’s role is confined to looking at the viability and ambition of the plans of the trust.
“Provided we can meet by the end of the year there is not going to be any delay so I don’t think it is problematic.
“Councils have been getting in place their delegates for this committee. These things happen on occasion, particularly after quite a number of local elections.”
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam