A LEADING county councillor has said she fears the people of Chipping Norton have been let down after a private provider took control of nursing at a local care unit.

Nurses at Chipping Norton community hospital, on London Road, have, up to now, been employed by Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust to run an Intermediate Care Unit that looks after patients when they are released from full hospital care.

But the nurses who look after 14 beds were told on Thursday, if they want to stay in the NHS they will have to leave the hospital and be transferred to other NHS sites.

If they stay they will become employees of the Orders of St John Care Trust (OSJCT), a private care provider. But Councillor Hilary Biles, who represents the Chipping Norton division on the County Council, said she was “deeply disappointed” for the people of Chipping Norton who she said had fought hard over a 10-year period to keep the hospital under NHS control.

She said: “I’m extremely disappointed that the people of Chipping Norton have been let down. They were promised NHS beds and NHS nurses. Now all their fears from years ago that the hospital would become privately run have come true.”

A Chipping Norton resident who did not wish to be named added: “Staff haven’t been properly told what the plans are and whether it will still be a community hospital. This decision appears to have been made without any consultation, staff were just told. I think people will be extremely worried because although OSJCT is a charity they run things very tightly financially, things like pay, terms and conditions will be squeezed.”

Chipping Norton War Memorial Hospital was shut 10 years ago amid concerns the town would lose vital NHS services. The then NHS Primary Care Trust and Oxfordshire County Council built the new hospital and care home on London Road.

John Jackson, director of adult social Services for Oxfordshire county Council, which helped broker the arrangements, said: “There is no need for any concern as there will be no change to the service. The intermediate care service in Chipping Norton will continue but with a different provider.”

Dan Hayes, OSJCT operations director, said: “We are aware of the change of circumstances in relation to that unit and are pleased to have been invited to be involved in the discussions about how this service will be developed.”