AN OXFORDSHIRE MP said she is is disappointed patients haven't been listened to after a report into a major NHS shake-up recommended a raft of changes including a permanent downgrade of maternity services.

Next Thursday, Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) will finally say yes or no to plans, which include closing 200 acute hospital beds and centralising stroke and critical care.

Ahead of the decision, the CCG has finally published an independent report by consultants Mott Macdonald, which looks at how the plans will impact the county.

But Banbury MP Victoria Prentis says she feels patients' concerns about permanently downgrading maternity services at the Horton General Hospital have been ignored, with board members are recommended to approve the plans.

She said: "More than 10,000 responses to the consultation were received by the CCG, with the vast majority against service downgrade in Banbury.

"I am disappointed that the CCG are recommending that the board agrees to press ahead without listening the views of patients, rendering the consultation meaningless."

Currently the Horton delivers 18 per cent of all Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's births, which is around 1,508.

But under the plans this would fall to six per cent, which is around 496 low risk births at the downgraded midwifery-led unit.

Mrs Prentis also raised concerns with the 'knock on' effect the changes will have as she continued to question the way the consultation was handled.

She said: "As I have made clear, I feel that the consultation was fatally flawed.

"While efforts have been made to seek further evidence to support phase one of the consultation, the CCG has not addressed properly our serious concerns about the process and impact.

"For example, in my conversations with Health Education England, I have been told that decisions regarding maternity and critical care will directly affect the provision of anaesthetic training in Banbury.

"I fear this will have a knock on effect on the recruitment of anaesthetists in future and the papers before the board do not reflect what I have been told."

On Monday, members of the Oxfordshire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) will have one final chance to scrutinise the report and quiz the CCG before their final decision on phase one of the Oxfordshire Transformation Plan.

Following that decision, details and a consultation will begin on the second phase of plans which will look at primary care and community hospitals.

The CCG declined to comment, saying it would be 'inappropriate' before the decision next week.

To view the consultation documents, including the Integrated Impact Assessment and Decision Making Business Case visit: oxonhealthcaretransformation.nhs.uk