Health Secretary 'kept awake at night' by mothers' safety in childbirth, he tells Banbury MP in question over campaign dossier

Sean Woodcock asked the Health Secretary in Parliament today (Tuesday) for a meeting about birth trauma at the John Radcliffe Hospital (JR), Oxford.

Mr Woodcock, who became Banbury’s MP earlier this month, directed his question to Wes Streeting during Health and Social Care questions, referring to the recently published Keep the Horton General (KTHG) dossier on birth trauma in Oxfordshire.

The dossier includes 50 cases of mothers from the Banbury area who have suffered birth trauma because of the 2016 downgrade of the Horton Maternity Hospital to a midwife-only unit, resulting in undue pressure on the JR birth department.

He said: “The Keep the Horton General campaign in my constituency has recently catalogued the poor experiences of tens of Banbury-based mothers who gave birth at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Will the Secretary of State or a member of his team meet with me to discuss these concerning reports of poor maternity?”

Mr Streeting replied: "Of all of the issues that keep me up awake at night, maternity safety is top of the list. We have already heard about the staffing shortages and actions we will take to address that. But I also want to reassure people that as we build our 10-year plan for the NHS, patient voices, including those of recent and also expectant mothers, will be part of that process too.”

Keith Strangwood, chairman of KTHG said: “I’m really proud of our group. We are working together with politicians to achieve our aim of looking after the mothers and the Horton. We have been campaigning for eight years on this subject alone.

"Keep the Horton General looks forward to welcoming Wes Streeting to Banbury if Sean can arrange this.

"We want Mr Streeting to see how rapidly this town is growing, and it is likely to grow even more than expected with Labour’s new commitment to build 3,000,000 houses within the lifetime of this Parliament. Banburyshire is getting bigger all the time and the health infrastructure isn’t there,” said Mr Strangwood.

"The NHS in Oxfordshire, just after they downgraded our maternity unit, said the best solution was two consultant-led maternity units for Oxfordshire. But they said they didn’t have enough staff to make that happen.

"The Horton used to be a good friend to the JR, taking its overflow when the Oxford area births were high.

"We would like Mr Streeting and Lord Darzi - as he completes his review of the NHS - to ensure sufficient doctors are trained to serve the maternity requirements of the near future. The population growth in the Banburyshire area is enormous and the projections are that the Horton catchment by 2040 is going to be more than double that of 2016.”

Beth Hopper, who produced the Birth Trauma Dossier with KTHG, said a second volume of childbirth experiences, is being compiled. Anyone wishing to give their account should email [email protected]

The Banbury Guardian has warned the regional NHS that population figures for the Horton catchment – Cherwell, south Northants and parts of Stratford-on-Avon and West Oxfordshire districts, are set to reach 405,000 by 2040 - compelling evidence that obstetrics should be reinstated at the Horton.