THE closure of Oxford’s City Community Hospital could cause a ‘domino effect’ on the county’s other facilities, an MP has warned.

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust announced on Wednesday that a lack of nurses meant it was no longer safe for patients to stay in the 12-bed ward at the Churchill site in Headington, which will close at the end of May.

Read again:Oxford Community Hospital to close amid NHS staffing crisis

Reacting to the news yesterday, Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran said: “This closure will increase pressure on other community hospitals including in Abingdon, and there seems to be a very real danger of a domino effect.

“In February 2018, I spoke in Parliament about the need to improve working conditions for NHS staff, give them a decent pay rise, take action on bursaries and training for nurses and ensure EU citizens are given an open and generous settlement - has the Government listened? Clearly not.

Oxford Mail:

“The Conservatives are completely preoccupied by the Brexit mess.

“But most importantly, until something is done about the prohibitive cost of housing in Oxfordshire we won’t be able to fix the staffing problem.”

Also read: EU staff leave Oxford hospitals in droves over Brexit anxiety

Oxford Health nurse and spokesman for Oxfordshire Unison Health Branch, Ian Mckendrick said: “These are vital beds that will now just be fed back into the system and create more pressure on other wards.

“It’s perfectly understandable they have to protect patient safety but if there are other wards with persistent staffing shortages they fill them with agency staff – what’s different about the City hospital?”

The Oxford beds will remain closed until at least September when trust chiefs will review the staffing situation.

The news, however, comes three years after inpatient services at Wantage Community Hospital were ‘temporarily’ closed, with campaigners still fighting to see the beds there re-opened.