HEALTH Secretary Andy Burnham heard how important Banbury’s Horton Hospital was to residents on a visit yesterday.

Campaigners fought to save the hospital from closure several years ago and have been campaigning since to secure services.

Mr Burnham said: “It was important for me to come and hear where things had reached, to get a sense from staff and the local community. I spoke to local people who said if the hospital wasn’t there it would be an incredible blight on their lives.

“Its future is a question of getting the balance of services right.”

He said he talked to one mother whose son was injured in a fall and would be in hospital for some time. Mr Burnham said: “She was saying if she had to travel to Oxford every day and manage at home with her four other children, that would be an incredibly difficult thing to do. That really brings it home.”

MP for Banbury Tony Baldry said: “I think it (the visit) enabled us, the community, to explain to the Secretary of State again why it’s so important to retain children’s and maternity services at the Horton.”

This week, pressure on NHS chiefs in the county eased after they learned Government funding would be kept in line with inflation for the next three years. Picture: Jon Lewis