Horton campaigners, bidding to have services restored to Banbury’s hospital, will be collecting signatures for a letter to the Prime Minister at the Town Mayor's Fun Day this weekend.

Keep the Horton General (KTHG) will be asking visitors to Sunday’s event in People’s Park to sign a letter to Sir Keir Starmer and Health Secretary Wes Streeting telling them that the Oxford hospitals are not going to be able to manage the massive population increase in the next 15 years without major reinvestment in the Horton.

According to council figures, the Horton catchment is due to increase from 165,000 in 2016 to 405,000 by 2040 – and that is without Labour’s 1.5m new homes.

The group has been campaigning for the return of a full maternity service since the Horton Maternity Hospital was downgraded in 2016. Promises to review the situation if population figures demanded it have not been honoured.

The maternity unit at the Horton General Hospital. It was downgraded to a midwife-only unit in 2016

placeholder image — The maternity unit at the Horton General Hospital. It was downgraded to a midwife-only unit in 2016

Last summer, KTHG published a dossier of 50 cases of birth trauma suffered by mothers and babies using the JR maternity unit.

Charlotte Bird, deputy chairman of KTHG, said: “We’ve got KTHG giveaways – pens, balloons and stickers – but our main purpose on Sunday is to give Banbury area people a voice to tell the Prime Minister and Health Secretary that this huge catchment population needs its own services at the Horton.

"Travelling to Oxford is too far – everyone here agrees about that. The John Radcliffe cannot cope and things threaten to get more dangerous in the coming years as the population of Oxfordshire doubles.

"The JR always used the Horton Maternity Hospital as its safety valve. When their unit got too busy, as often happens, they sent mothers in labour to Banbury where they were assured a full, safe obstetric service.

"It is crystal clear that another maternity inquiry is not going to solve things without big investment in training midwives, fixing crumbling buildings and expanding services.

"No amount of preventative work in the NHS is going to stop the number of babies being born – and birth trauma is entirely unacceptable,” she said.

KTHG’s letter explains to the Government that the vast majority of Banburyshire mothers and families have to travel 25 - 36 miles for safe childbirth at the JR.

“We welcome Wes Streeting's maternity inquiry. However we can save the long, expensive process of finding solutions by saying that hospitals such as the Horton in Banbury are the answer. They need obstetric units returned to ‘Keep Services Local’,” it says.

“Staff turnover at the JR is worrying. Our happy unit recruited and retained midwives easily. They loved working at the Horton. The JR’s shortage of midwives and obstetricians is a big problem.

"We urge you to open discussions now to begin planning for the return of obstetric maternity services to Banbury - well before 2040. Similar population increases around Oxfordshire show the JR (already over-subscribed) will no longer be able to cope.”

Those unable to get to the Fun Day can have their names added to the letter by emailing [email protected]

The event takes place between 11.30am – 4.30pm.