OXFORDSHIRE’S health services could see the winter crisis extend into the summer as hospitals struggle to cope with continuing increased demand.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has warned that the nation’s hospitals can expect their summer performance in A&E departments to be as poor as in recent winters after A&E attendances, waiting times and admissions reached ‘alarming levels’.

As with many other parts of the country, Oxfordshire’s health services have faced mounting pressures, with NHS bosses admitting services are constantly running 'close to maximum’.

As a result, operation cancellations have almost doubled since 2017 across the county.

Last week Medical director at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH), Dr Tony Berendt, said this winter, which saw non-urgent operations delayed on three occasions and a ‘black alert’ raised in January, had been a hard one for the trust.

The summer months would normally see the situation ease, however the BMA said that levels of demand and activity this summer will mirror winters of two or three years ago.

Traditionally, the summer offers a period of respite for the NHS, and while attendances at A&E tend to increase, bed occupancy falls as emergency admissions go down.

With more beds available, it means trusts can improve performance against the four-hour wait target and reduce trolley waits.

However, according to forecasts by the BMA, the implications for the nation’s health trusts are that winter contingency plans would continue to remain in place.

According to the BMA’s forecasts, the best-case scenario would involve 1.51 million emergency admissions across the country and 127,000 trolley waits of four hours or more.

Responding to the BMA’s warning, a spokesman for Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “We work closely with our partners in the health and social care system to plan services for patients.

“Hospital services such as A&E and inpatient surgery are just one element of this system which includes GP appointments, community based health services and social services support for people in their own homes.

“We work together to anticipate demand for services and plan accordingly, whether this is during winter or at other times of the year.”

Staff shortages, bed-blocking and a high number of flu cases have been cited as factors that had pushed the trust past its limit last winter.

Speaking last week Dr Berendt said the trust was already improving systems for next year.

However, he did not rule out the possibly it would have to cancel surgeries again.

He said: “When you have a system constantly running close to maximum it doesn’t take much to throw the whole system out.”