A call has been made for extra beds at Witney's community hospital because of new plans to turn it into a district-wide centre for elderly patients needing specialist care.
The proposal, first revealed in the Oxford Mail, has provoked concern at West Oxfordshire District Council.
At a cabinet meeting they resolved to ask Oxfordshire NHS Primary Care Trust to provide at least 25 more beds to ensure that other patients will not miss out on care.
The PCT wants to use just Witney and Abingdon hospitals for elderly patients needing specialist gerontologist teams, bypassing other hospitals at Chipping Norton, Didcot, Wallingford and Wantage.
The district council is also sending a letter to the PCT highlighting the problems with rural transport for relatives wanting to visit patients at just one community hospital in the district.
Hilary Biles, cabinet member for health, said: "This will put a strain on the current beds at Witney Hospital and there are no plans to increase the number of beds overall."
The PCT says that the proposals are at "an informal stage of consultation" but has declined to say whether the public would be asked for their views.
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