MATERNITY services at the Horton General Hospital will remain midwife-led only, until at least next March.

In a statement, yesterday, hospital bosses said not enough middle-grade doctors had been recruited to restore a full service by January.

Services at the Banbury hospital were downgraded to midwife-led unit (MLU) status on October 3 due to a chronic shortage of obstetricians.

Any expectant mothers deemed ‘high-risk’ have been asked to go to the John Radcliffe Hospital to give birth.

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Dr Bruno Holthof said:

“Across the NHS, trusts are affected by a shortage of obstetric doctors and unfortunately this has also hit recruitment for the Horton General Hospital.

“We are disappointed that we cannot return obstetric-led maternity services to the Horton in January as hoped and we will continue to advertise widely, offering an enhanced package to attract the candidates we need.

“Patient safety must come first, and of course we cannot run the obstetric-led service without the staff for it to operate safely.”

So far seven babies have been born safely at the Horton MLU since changes came into effect.