MATERNITY services at the Horton General Hospital will remain midwife-led only until at least March 2017.

In a statement this afternoon hospital bosses said not enough  middle-grade doctors have been recruited to restore a full service by January.

Services at the Banbury hospital were downgraded to midwife-led unit (MLU) status on October 3 due to a chronic shortage of obstetricians.

Any expectant mothers deemed 'high-risk' need to go to the John Radcliffe Hospital to give birth.

So far seven babies have been born safely at the Horton MLU but concerns have been raised for the safety of women and babies that need to get to the JR in the event of a complication.

Oxford University Hospital Chief Executive Dr Bruno Holthof said:

“Across the NHS, hospital trusts are affected by a shortage of obstetric doctors and unfortunately this has also hit recruitment for the Horton General Hospital.  We are disappointed that we cannot return obstetric-led maternity services to the Horton in January as hoped and we will continue to advertise widely, offering an enhanced package to attract the candidates we need.

“Patient safety must come first, and of course we cannot run the obstetric-led service without the staff for it to operate safely.”