Jobs are to be axed at Banbury's Horton General and Oxford hospitals as the government demands that costs are reduced.

The Oxford University Hospitals trust has refused to give any detail about which jobs are to go, how much they need to save and whether services will be removed from Banbury to Headington.

It is understood that 785 jobs will be lost in Southampton and hundreds more at Northampton and Kettering hospitals affecting patients on Banburyshire borders.

Trusts are saying frontline services will be protected ‘as far as possible’ by cutting back room and administrative posts. They say some costs will be reduced by ‘natural wastage’ and redeployment. The cuts will be made within the current financial year.

The Horton General Hospital which is being asked to lose jobs

placeholder image — The Horton General Hospital which is being asked to lose jobs

The Banbury Guardian was contacted by a patient who had been told cardiology jobs were to go at the Banbury department.

The newsdesk asked the trust for details of precisely which services have been asked to make cuts, if outpatient clinics will be affected and whether patients will be asked to travel to Oxford to consultant appointments.

A spokesperson at OUH said: “The NHS is undergoing significant changes following the announcement of NHS England's abolition and staff reductions in Integrated Care Boards (ICBs).

“While these national developments will impact on OUH, our primary focus for the year ahead is meeting the core standards specified in the National Operating Plan Guidance for 2025-26, including our financial plan and essential patient access standards. All NHS providers like OUH must deliver services within their allocated budgets.

The John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford which is being expected to shed jobs to reduce costs

“This will involve a careful examination of our resource utilisation, identifying opportunities for savings and eliminating waste, without compromising safety and quality of patient care, as well as working with staff across all of our sites to ensure all of our communities remain supported.”

We asked which Horton departments are being asked to make cuts; if cardiology is one and how many part-time or full-time posts are being asked for in that or any other Horton department.

We also asked if any Horton services are being reduced or even temporarily stopped. We requested information on how much in budget terms the trust is being asked to cut and whether any patients would need to go to the JR for appointments they might have had at the Horton?

The trust was additionally asked whether day surgery continues at the Horton and if there have been any reductions. And we asked for details of budgets necessary to maintain services. The OUH spokesman said: “We won’t be adding to our statement at this stage.”

Charlotte Bird, deputy chairman of Keep the Horton General said: “This is outrageous and any demands for yet more cuts to local NHS services are undisguisedly asking for the system to fail. It’s impossible to see how any trust being asked to reduce waiting lists] is going to be able to do it with fewer staff.

"The Horton has been neglected for too long. Its buildings are crumbling and the trust and Oxfordshire County Council know full well its rebuilding programme is way overdue.

"Job cuts of this magnitude are inviting failure, longer waits, delayed treatments and pushing those people towards the private sector and medical insurance. Perhaps that is the motivation behind this appalling new call for cost reductions.”