Cost-cutting measures being drawn up by Oxfordshire's largest hospital trust could lead to "clinical safety" issues, according to the head of the county's health watchdog.

Oxfordshire health overview and scrutiny committee chairman Dr Peter Skolar said although he had not received details of possible cuts, he had been warned they could have a negative impact on services.

His comments come after MPs revealed plans for at least 600 job losses at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, to help reduce a £33m deficit.

Dr Skolar said: "The ORH accepts there will be difficult decisions and that most will have to go straight to full public consultation. My brief is to ensure patient services are maintained or improved, but I don't think these plans will do that.

"Regardless of whether the 600 job losses figure relates to redundancies, cutting back on agency staff, or freezing vacancies, it will be very difficult to say this is being done to improve services.

"The outlook isn't good and there are issues surrounding clinical safety. That's my prediction and what I have been warned. It's not just about managing the deficit for this year. If the ORH stays as it is now, there will be cost implications for the future too."

News of the job cuts was disclosed by Banbury MP Tony Baldry, after he and his county colleagues, Boris Johnson and Ed Vaizey, were briefed by ORH chief executive Trevor Campbell Davis.

Following their comments, other Oxfordshire MPs have given their reaction to the figures - which have not been denied by the trust.

Dr Evan Harris, Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon and a former hospital doctor in Oxford, blamed the Government and predicted more cuts would follow.

He said: "These losses are a direct result of the target culture in the NHS, forcing hospitals to waste money chasing political targets at all costs.

"The refusal of the Government to give our NHS trusts enough time to achieve financial balance has made huge job losses, including redundancies, inevitable."

Andrew Smith, Labour MP for Oxford East, said it was crucial patient care was not damaged by any cuts.

He added: "Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt says the deficits can be tackled without damaging patient care and the onus is on her to show how it can be done.

"I've already met local nurses and nursing unions and if they say patient care is being threatened, I'll take it up at the highest level. It's very difficult to see with this scale of job losses that it is not going to have an impact."

The ORH trust is expected to unveil its full cost-cutting plans next week, after briefing staff.