HOPES that abdominal surgery will soon return to the Horton General Hospital have been dashed after a consultation was delayed.

Surgery was suspended at the Banbury hospital in January because managers said it did not have enough consultants.

Hospital bosses hoped the consultation would take place this Spring, but it could now be delayed for up to a year.

The body which took over county NHS spending on April 1 has said the delay is needed so it can draw up a commissioning strategy. This will look at how primary, community and hospital services will be delivered throughout the county.

Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s Dr Mary Keenan said: “Any consultation on changes to the Horton General Hospital will take place following the development of this strategy but before the end of the current financial year.”

The decision was backed by the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust (OUH), which runs the Horton.

Dr Keenan said: “Patient safety is paramount to us. We have therefore agreed with the OUH that while this work is progressed, the suspension of emergency abdominal surgery should remain in place.”

Patients currently have to travel to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital for emergency procedures involving abdominal problems like hernias and appendicitis.