Horton General Hospital maternity unit called 'horrific' as CQC warns babies at risk of harm

• ITV News Meridian's Natalie Verney has spoken to parents who say they have been let down by maternity care at the Horton General Hospital in Banbury

Maternity services at Horton General Hospital in Banbury have been branded 'horrific' by women who have relied on it.

In 2017, it was downgraded to 'midwife-led' care, and now a CQC report has found both mothers and babies are at risk of harm at the Oxfordshire site.

Three women told ITV Meridian they are worried about the care at the site in Banbury, despite reassurances from Oxford University Hospitals that it is safe.

Louise Truby lost her son, Rome, on 19 January 2023 and says her experience at Horton was 'horrific, dangerous and inconsiderate'.

When Rome stopped moving, Louise said she was left waiting for six hours to be seen, after she first reported it to staff.

“They took me for a scan”, she told ITV Meridian.

"That was when the scan lady had obviously told me that he had passed away.

“But there was no compassion when she said that, it was just... 'your baby's died'.”

• Louise Truby tells ITV Meridian about her experience at the Horton General.

Louise and her partner, Connor, were told she'd have to give birth 25 miles away at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, because a lack of obstetrics meant it wouldn't be possible at the Horton.

They were told to drive themselves, something which left them reeling.

Connor told ITV Meridian: "When it comes to critical moments like your baby's died, you're just having to send two parents off to drive to a completely different hospital, knowing that the kids just died, you don't know what could happen during that time.

“From being at the front door of that hospital, to the front door of the other one, something could happen.”

• Connor tells ITV Meridian about having to drive 25 miles after finding out their baby had died.

CQC inspectors visited the site in October 2023 and rated the service as 'requires improvement'. It was the first time it had been assessed since the unit was downgraded to a midwife-led unit in 2017.

They found a service with poor governance, as well as ineffective systems and processes which meant women and their babies could be put at risk of harm.

Inspectors said in their report a lack of oversight meant leaders were not always able to identify issues or make improvements when issues were found and that safety equipment wasn’t always checked regularly.

Leah Ridley is another mother who says she was let down when she visited the Horton after she started leaking near the end of her pregnancy.

She says she was not examined and was repeatedly told she had just wet herself before being sent home.

When Leah was induced at the John Radcliffe three weeks later, they could not break her waters because she did not have any.

She found out then she had been leaking amniotic fluid all along and her newborn baby was now very poorly and needed daily doses of antibiotics, which meant travelling back and forth to Oxford for more than a week.

Speaking with ITV Meridian she said: “Obviously that’s not great after you’ve had a c-section, you’ve got a newborn, and it’s like 9 o’clock in the morning. It’s just difficult.

“You’ve just been through that distressing time, and then you’re being told you need to come back, you need to come back. It was just painful and added to the trauma I guess.”

• Leah Ridley tells ITV Meridian about her experience at the Horton Hospital in Banbury.

Oxford University Hospitals declined to comment on the specific issues raised, but in response to the report by the CQC, Milica Redfearn, director of midwifery at Oxford University Hospitals, said: “We are disappointed by this result, but we always welcome feedback on ways to improve our services and we will work with staff, women and birthing people to make the improvements suggested.

"We have a great team at the Horton Midwifery-led Unit as the inspectors found when they visited.

“The inspectors said that 'the service engaged well with women and birthing people and the community to plan and manage services', that there were enough staff and that we kept women and birthing people safe.”

Professor Meghana Pandit, Chief Executive Officer at Oxford University Hospitals, said: “As a learning organisation we will improve services along the lines highlighted in the report, although I am disappointed for the staff who have been working so hard to make improvements already.

“I want to be very clear that our commitment to the Horton General Hospital is unwavering, and although this new rating is a setback, we are immensely proud of our local hospital, the services it provides and our wonderful staff.

"Our plans for the Horton as a modern district general hospital providing urgent and local care to the people of Banbury and surrounding areas are set out in our clinical strategy.

“Over recent years we have increased the capacity of the Brodey Cancer Centre, increased our ability to diagnose locally with the installation of a new CT scanner and a new blood testing service, increased specialist input to outpatient clinics such as more obstetrician-led clinics and increased surgical and day case capacity.

“All of these improvements are designed to improve access to care locally for the people of Banbury and surrounding areas.”

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