David Cameron was
branded "utterly hypocritical" today for complaining his local
hospital has been downgraded in the NHS staffing crisis.
The ex-PM spoke out
as Horton General Hospital in Banbury temporarily suspended high-risk births
for "immediate and real patient safety reasons".
Campaigners fear
lives will be lost after bosses changed maternity services from October due to
a shortage of obstetric doctors.
It follows the worst
NHS deficit in a generation and soaring agency costs to plug staff gaps under
Mr Cameron's premiership.
But rather than
accepting the blame Mr Cameron, the MP for nearby Witney, told the Oxford Mail:
"Local mums want to have their babies in their local hospital.
"While a
midwife-led unit can achieve great things, it won’t be able to look after all
mothers’ needs.
"The importance
of this service to local people is very clear to see from the public outpouring
of concern at the temporary suspension.
"Myself and
other local MPs will be working together to ensure that every option is considered
and that every potential obstacle to these recruits is addressed."
Lib Dem leader Tim
Farron said: "It is utterly hypocritical of Cameron to say these things
now.
"It frankly
beggars believe he can have overseen a staffing crisis in the NHS and then
utter words like this with a straight face."
Shadow Health
Secretary Diane Abbott said Mr Cameron's welcome fight for patients was
"too little too late".
She added: "It
was Cameron’s government that oversaw the systematic underfunding and staff
shortages, which have led to his own hospital shutting its doors to pregnant
women.
"Just because
his successor Theresa May has continued with this tumultuous trend does not
mean he can pass the buck."
Regulator Monitor
branded the £2bn NHS deficit the "worst in a generation" last year.
The Tories announced
extra cash for the NHS but campaigners claimed funds were being cut in real
terms amid major 'efficiency' savings.
The Royal College of
Midwives, which says England has a shortage of 3,500 midwifery staff, warned in
July the government's deficit reduction plan must not become "a scythe to
hack down staff numbers".
Mr Cameron's
constituents in Witney use the hospital
Policy director Jon
Skewes added: "Services are being kept afloat by the sheer hard work and
dedication of staff, in the face of increasing demand and historic and
long-standing staff shortages."
The hospital's
decision will force 80 expectant mums a month to travel to Oxford, Warwick or
Northampton, up to 30 miles away.
A spokesman for
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Horton, said
space would be made for 1,000 extra births a year at Oxford's John Radcliffe
Hospital.
Bosses hope the
situation could be resolved early next year.
Keith Strangwood,
who led a campaign against the move by more than 10,000 people, blamed the
staff shortage on the government for underpaying doctors.
Lib Dem leader Tim
Farron said the former PM's caring approach "beggars belief"
He said: "It's
about money. The Trusts are being told they can only deliver the service they
can afford rather than the service they need. It's attacking a lot of small
hospitals all over the country."
The former Tory
councillor, 57, welcomed Mr Cameron's intervention but said: "The proof in
the pudding will be if he come and joins us in person at a protest."
Last year Mr Cameron
was accused of hypocrisy when he attacked Oxfordshire
County Council for cutting children's services.
Council leader Ian
Hudspeth hit back, saying cuts from Westminster left him with no choice and he
had taken "as much from the back office as possible."
Lib Dem MP Greg
Mulholland said Mr Cameron's protest this time was like "Cruella de Vil
complaining there aren't enough Dalmatians left on the street".
Mr Cameron's
constituency office could not be reached for comment.
SOURCE: mirror.co.uk
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