Hospitals at Watlington and Burford are to close in a healthcare shake-up announced today.

A third hospital under threat at Wallingford will be saved and a new hospital built in Bicester, but 46 beds will go at hospitals throughout the county. Those hardest hit will be at Abingdon, where 18 beds will go, and at Witney where 13 will be lost.

Chipping Norton will lose two beds, Wallingford three and Wantage six, if Oxfordshire Health Authority's plans are agreed next week. The cuts will save the NHS £1,606,000 a year.

The decision has infuriated campaigners who marched to Downing Street and the 64,000 people who signed a petition opposing the cuts.

Shirley Pate, chairman of Watlington Hospital At Risk, said: "We're very disappointed. It's sad that all this time, money and effort seems to have been wasted. There hasn't been a consultation at all. They have just gone ahead willy-nilly with it. "We will fight on and keep going. I'm very pleased for Wallingford - at least they seem to be off the hook."

Authority chief executive Michael Taylor said: "The population of Oxfordshire deserves a first-class service, one which is responsive to public opinion, offers patient choice and provides value for money.

"By taking some tough choices now, cost savings can be used to fund overall service improvements."

Both Burford and Watlington will cease to be community hospitals with the loss of 31 NHS beds. The health authority hopes the buildings will be sold off to a health charity or voluntary group in the private sector, to be used for healthcare. The authority is also looking to provide alternative community services in Watlington and Burford, such as respite care and evening nursing. And they will spend £3,000 on a trial transport link for patients and their families between Watlington and Wallingford.

The last hope for a total reprieve rests with the health board - who could reject the closures - or with the patients' watchdog, the Community Health Council, which can appeal to Health Secretary Frank Dobson to veto it.

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