Oxford's 'crumbling' John Radcliffe Hospital needs funding

Figures obtained by Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran also suggest the city's biggest hospital - the John Radcliffe - has a repair bill of over £147m.

Fears have been expressed amid the decision to add seven new elective theatres to the city's main hospital with a resultant net loss of 136 car parking spaces.

READ MORE: Oxfordshire hospitals 'extremely challenged' by strike

The John Radcliffe Hospital. (Image: Oxford Mail)

Ms Moran said: "The backlog of repairs is putting patients and staff in Oxfordshire at risk. 

"It is completely unacceptable and utterly disgraceful that it has been allowed to come to this.

"People in Oxfordshire deserve to know that they can go and get the treatment they need in a safe environment.

Layla Moran MP.

"Not having to worry that they are being treated in a place that is collapsing around them."

She continued: "The Conservative party cannot be trusted with our NHS and cannot even be trusted to ensure the basic safety of staff and patients."

The Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust consists of four hospitals which include the John Radcliffe in Headington in addition to the Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, also in Oxford, and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.

The Horton Hospital.

Labour Headington Hill and Northway Ward city councillor Nigel Chapman, said: "I am not surprised to hear there are issues around refurbishment of hospitals.

"I'm very concerned to hear that there's a backlog of maintenance at the John Radcliffe of the scale being reported.

"It's really important that hospitals have the capital to refurbish and build the right facilities for patients."

Councillor Nigel Chapman.

The new repair figures come from analysis by the Liberal Democrats.

It was revealed earlier this week that two of the hospital trust sites were under so much pressure amid the junior doctors' strike that patient safety was potentially at risk.

But there are hopes that the seven new elective theatres to the John Radcliffe Hospital may go some way towards curtailing wait lists in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic.

Proposed plans claim the expansion will help fill the need for a new theatre building "urgently" required to address the growing number of patients waiting for routine elective surgery.

The John Radcliffe Hospital is the main teaching hospital for Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University, and incorporates the Oxford University Medical School.

It opened in 1973 and is the major trauma centre for the Thames Valley with its distinctive white-tiled structure occupying a prominent position on Headington Hill.

Both the government cabinet office and East Oxford MP Anneliese Dodds have been contacted for comment but neither responded to the request.