North Oxfordshire MP Victoria Prentis yesterday raised funding for the Horton General Hospital during a ministerial statement by Edward Argar MP on the government’s Health Infrastructure Plan.

The statement follows a commitment by Prime Minister Boris Johnson MP to support 40 hospital-building projects across the country.

Last week, the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) voted to make the Horton maternity unit downgrade permanent, committing instead to only a rolling review.

Working with local government colleagues and civil society groups across North Oxfordshire, including Oxfordshire’s Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) and Keep the Horton General group (KTHG), Victoria continues to campaign for the return of full obstetric services at the Horton.

Victoria is also keen to ensure that the Horton site is fit for the future and has successfully pushed health bosses in Oxfordshire to submit an application to the Department of Health and Social Care for seed funding to work up new plans for the site. It is hoped that the application will be looked on favourably by the Secretary of State, Matt Hancock MP, to ensure that plans to modernise the Horton site are robust and deliverable.

Speaking after the minister’s statement, Victoria said:

“We must improve the Horton site and ensure it is fit for the future. I have discussed this with the Secretary of State twice over the last week to make sure that he is aware just how important our local hospital is to residents across Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire. I hope that we will receive this vital seed funding to enable us to develop a proper plan to ensure that Banbury’s ongoing health needs are met and make the Horton a first-class, Twenty-first Century district general hospital.”