NHS and social services 'in crisis'

Mrs Blears, who was responding to a special debate in the House of Commons called by Witney MP David Cameron and backed by fellow Conservatives Tony Baldry (Banbury) and Boris Johnson (Henley), said she wanted to see for herself the problems and talk to staff and managers.

Mr Cameron told the Commons the state of Oxfordshire's health and social services dominated his postbag.

He said: "We are poorly served in Oxfordshire and it seems to be getting worse."

He ran through a list of problems, starting with the apparent blocking of a move by the Phoenix Trust to use the buildings of the closed Burford Hospital as a Healthy Living Centre.

He said when the proposals were nearly ready to go ahead, the valuation of the buildings increased from £500,000 to £700,000, leading to them being put on the open market.

He highlighted cuts in care homes for the elderly, the disabled and children, and the fact that the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust was failing to meet targets to cut waiting lists, was cancelling operations, had more than 80 beds closed and was short of doctors and nurses.

All three MPs pleaded for the Government to end national pay rates for nurses so the trust could take account of the county's high cost of living.

Mr Cameron attacked the Government's star rating system, used to grade hospitals, which condemned the JR as a failure at a time it was trying to recruit staff.

He said Oxfordshire had one of the lowest Government grants for social services in the country and faced major cuts because last year it exceeded its budget by 15 per cent.

He said "brutal" cuts had led to many elderly people or their carers having to pay for previously free services.

Mr Johnson attacked the Government for allowing hospitals such as Watlington Community Hospital to close.

He was delighted local people had saved it and rebuilt it outside the NHS, but said it should not have been necessary.

Mrs Blears said: "I shall be going to Oxfordshire and the JR because I want to talk to staff and managers."

She promised to ask regional NHS officials, the West Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust and the Phoenix Trust to talk about the new Healthy Living Centre before the buildings of Burford Hospital were sold.

She acknowledged that health and social services in Oxfordshire were "under tremendous pressure" and said the Government was pumping more money into county social services. Mrs Blears said things at the JR were starting to improve.

Mr Cameron said: "There are two good things to come out of this debate. First she's coming to visit Oxfordshire and second, that she has offered a last minute retrieve to the Phoenix Trust plan for Burford Hospital.

"I'm delighted that she's coming to the county to see for herself the problems and delighted she is going to bang heads together over Burford.

"The MPs and people of Oxfordshire want action."