The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting and thanked everybody for giving up their time to come along and give their views to the Committee.

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Committee wishes to hear the views of all those with an interest in proposals to permanently change obstetric services at the Horton General Hospital. The purpose of this meeting is to inform the Committee’s future scrutiny of proposals and to ensure recommendations of the Secretary of State and the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) are comprehensively addressed.

During the day the Committee hopes to hear from all those interested, including:

·         MPs and local councillors

·         Healthwatch organisations in the area

·         NHS England

·         Relevant commissioners and providers of services across the area in question (e.g. Ambulance Services)

·         Mothers / families who have been affected, and will be affected, by proposals

·         Campaign groups

The Chairman will outline the principles and management of the meeting, including the programme and the timetable of speakers, further details of which, if available, will be published prior to the meeting.

The purpose of this meeting was to inform the Committee’s future scrutiny of proposals by hearing the views of all those with an interest in proposals to permanently change obstetric services at the Horton General Hospital. The purpose also was to ensure the recommendations of the Secretary of State and the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) were comprehensively addressed.

During the day the Committee hoped to hear from all those interested, including the following:

·         MPs and local councillors

·         Healthwatch organisations in the area

·         NHS England

·         Relevant commissioners and providers of services across the area in question (for example, the Ambulance services)

·         Mothers/families who have been affected, and will be affected, by proposals

·         Campaign Groups

The Committee had received the written views from the following organisations prior to the meeting (these were attached to the Addendas for the meeting):

·         NHS England South (South Central) – Service Reconfiguration Assurance

·         Royal College of Midwives (RCM) – ‘Response to Horton HOSC’s consultation’

·         RCM – ‘Position Statement’

·         RCM – ‘Standards for Midwifery services in the UK’

·         Submission from Healthwatch Northamptonshire and South Northamptonshire & Daventry maternity survey highlights

·         Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (RCOG) – ‘Response to Horton HOSC invitation’

·         RCOG - ‘Providing quality care for women – Workforce’

·         RCOG – ‘Workforce Report 2017’

·         RCOG – ‘Workforce Report – Update on workforce recommendations and activities’.

·         South Warwickshire CCG – ‘Horton General Hospital Obstetric Unit position statement’

·         South Warwickshire CCG – Appendix 1a – ‘Births Analyst report’

·         South Warwickshire CCG – Appendix 1b – ‘Births Analysis’

·         Responses from Primary Care

·         General responses

·         Fringford Parish Council – response

·         South Warwickshire Foundation Trust – response

·         ‘Options for Obstetric Provision – final long list as at 29 November 2018’.

From 10:10 to 12:30 the Committee hears the views of interested parties.

At 12:30 to 13:15 the Committee will break for lunch.

From 13:15 to 16:00 the Committee hears the views of interested parties.

From 16:00 to 16:30 the Committee will break for tea.

From 16:30 to 18:00 the Committee hears the views of interested parties.

18:00 – close of meeting

The following people/organisations came along to give their views to the Committee:

Victoria Prentis MP for Banbury and North Oxfordshire (speaking also on behalf of the Rt. Hon. Jeremy Wright MP for Kenilworth and Southam, Warwickshire)

-       Spoke on behalf of her 90k constituents on the basis that there was no political difference on this issue;

-       Building of new housing in the Banbury area averaged 3 houses per day and the Horton dealt with one third of all Oxfordshire’s Accident & Emergency cases – the Horton’s services were necessary to the north of Oxfordshire given also the rise in population;

-       She remained anxious for the future of maternity as patient safety was of the utmost importance – 20% of mothers were being transferred from the Midwife - Led Unit (MLU) in the Horton to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford;

-       Efforts to re-open the Obstetric Unit had not been taken up by the Trust for over two years. There was a need to probe exactly how the recruitment process was progressing. Those at higher risk were transferring during labour to Northampton/Warwick and Oxford hospitals and enduring a very uncomfortable car journey – and some did not own a car – some areas in her constituency were included in the highest level of deprivation in the area;

-       Very concerned regarding travel times – length of journey could be very unpredictable due the heavy traffic, accidents, inclement weather etc. and parking charges high at JR. Results of her travel survey had gleaned 400 responses – average time taken to travel and park was 120 minutes – which would not be a very pleasant experience for women in the final stages in labour;

-       She read out some short extracts from some shared experiences from women who had contacted her:

-       Lady A - she had stayed two nights in an Oxford hotel, at a high cost, to ensure that she could be close to the JR - she found care was not personal and rather like a ‘conveyor belt’ – in contrast the MLU at the Horton was very supportive;

-       Lady B – birth started as low risk, rushed to JR for a C section in a naked state with the midwife holding the baby’s head to avoid death – she got to the JR in time because it was a Sunday morning. It could have been a different outcome in weekday or Saturday traffic. She had serious post trauma issues afterwards as a result;

-       Lady C – transferred to JR and on the way haemorrhaged due to retained placenta – this was very uncomfortable – her view that the Horton needed to be a fully functioning hospital as Oxford was too far away;

-       Lady D – sent to Oxford after her waters broke. She was told that if she felt like pushing she must pull over and call an ambulance. On arrival there were no beds available at the JR and the delivery suite  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19/18