A GREAT-GRANDMOTHER and former nurse at the Horton General Hospital has said downgrading services is "irresponsible at best, insane at worst."

Dawn Griffis, 76, trained at the Banbury hospital from 1957 to 1962 and remains a staunch member of the Keep the Horton General campaign.

Ahead of a protest this weekend against planned cuts to the maternity unit by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, she called for vacant obstetrics posts at the Horton to be publicised across the world to get them filled, and to ensure the changes to not have to go ahead.

She said: "The Horton has the reputation of being an excellent all-round hospital. The location is perfect not just for the town but for the surrounding area.

"Travelling to the John Radcliffe in Oxford is a nightmare, and life-threatening in many cases if time is the essence. In too many cases it is the same as a death sentence."

Mrs Griffis lived as a girl in the grounds of Headington Hill Hall – then a post-war rehabilitation centre – where her father worked as a chief instructor for the patients.

She said OUH's current proposals, which would see services at the Horton become temporarily midwife-led while extra doctors are being recruited, was "sheer madness" as women in North and West Oxfordshire facing birth complications would have to make the 45-minute journey to the John Radcliffe Hospital instead.

She added: "The Horton handles many emergent obstetric mothers and babies and the 25-mile trip to the JR will cause the loss of life for many.

"It is very easy to blame budget cuts or [being] unable to fill crucial staff positions in the hospital. Whether fact or fiction the trust are counting on not being challenged."

She suggested that local people with digital skills create their own jobs adverts, to be publicised across the UK as well as Australia, New Zealand, the USA and beyond.

Hundreds re set to join hands around the Oxford Road hospital from 10.30am this Sunday to oppose the plans, following a large-scale event attended by Victoria Prentis MP in July. Organisers hope this latest demonstration will be the biggest yet.

The Trust began trying to recruit vacant obstetric posts since April and by September could have just three of eight middle-grade doctors in obstetrics at the Horton.

Dr Tony Berendt, Medical Director at OUH said: “Make no mistake, the Trust does not welcome the current position regarding the obstetric service it runs at the Horton General Hospital. However, safety of babies and their mothers must be our top priority and awe must therefore make plans now.

“We are already providing safe midwifery-led care in Oxfordshire at our midwifery led units and in our maternity units. Many pregnant women already travel much greater distances than from Banbury to Oxford in order to give birth at the John Radcliffe Hospital which provides specialist obstetric care for a wide area.

“The Trust Board will make decisions on 31 August that will be entirely about immediate patient safety issues."