FRESH calls for Oxford's blood centre to be re-opened have followed the shock sacking of the national service's top man.

Oxford MP Evan Harris threw down the gauntlet to Health Secretary Frank Dobson in the House of Commons yesterday.

He said: "The closure of the blood centre in Oxford is an example of the damage that was done to the blood service. No other patients, donors or staff should have to suffer what Oxford has gone through."

His attack came on the same day Mr Dobson sacked the chairman of the National Blood Authority, Sir Colin Walker.

A damning report on the NBA claimed the service in Oxford had deteriorated since its blood centre closed to merge with Bristol.

Its author, Prof John Cash - a former director of the Scottish blood transfusion service - was reporting on a proposed merger between Merseyside and North Wales and looked to Oxford's closure last year for a comparison.

He said a press release from the NBA last August implying that all was well in Oxford was "not only misleading but a very grave error of judgement".

He claimed it would affect customer relationships and the respect many staff have for their managers.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Mr Harris, who used to be a doctor in Liverpool, said of the report: "It's a real vindication of what I said then. It's quite a remarkable admission. It's obvious to anyone that things in Oxford aren't good and we didn't need to wait until now to hear this."

The Oxford centre closure and merger of the service with Bristol met opposition from inside and outside the service. Dr Marlene Fisher, former deputy director of the Oxford centre, opposed the merger from the start, together with the former service chief Dr Colin Entwhistle. He resigned in September 1995, saying he was disillusioned with the plan.

Dr Fisher said: "It quite clearly wouldn't work. It was flawed. It introduced a system of functional management in an organisation which needs a team effort."

"Clearly blood is a living substance and the time frame getting it from donor to patient is critical in many instances. Moving it to Bristol meant that the timescale was lengthened very substantially.

"An enormous amount of goodwill completely disappeared. There was a reign of fear and victimisation. It was just dreadful and anyone who spoke out was harassed and subjected to very difficult treatment. It was very difficult to do your job in those conditions."

She added that donors and staff had done a wonderful job despite the difficulties. but could not understand how a critical service was subjected to such a major change opposed by everybody involved.

She added: "Everybody recognised it needed to be upgraded but it didn't need a major operation, it needed a bit of minor surgery.

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