STAFF shortages and the ‘worryingly low morale’ in the county’s hospitals must be addressed before tangible improvements can be made in local health services.

The chairman of the county’s independent health watchdog, Healthwatch Oxfordshire, highlighted the issues in the county’s acute hospitals, as well as overstretched GPs and home care as the major stumbling blocks holding back care in the county.

The comments come in response to last week’s Care Quality Commission (CQC) report into health and care services for older people in Oxfordshire which said despite improvements, more work was needed to make a fully cohesive care system.

Chair of Healthwatch Oxfordshire George Smith, said the report was good news and that a reduction in bed blocking in local hospitals had been evidence of the improved way of working.

He said: “There is still a huge amount still to do in the acute hospital sector, both in staff morale, which is worryingly low, and serious staff shortages.

“Primary care is in crisis, GP practices find it increasingly difficult to recruit partners and provide the service they would wish.

“Homecare services are severely over-stretched and there have been distressing cuts in the provision of day centres, and delays to access in mental health support.

“Healthwatch Oxfordshire is pressing for a rolling five-year plan to address these issues, a clear identification of what needs to be done, how this will be done, who will do it, and how it will be measured.

“Any plan would need to take into account the rising population of the county and the increasing proportion of older people. We want to see tangible improvements to services to the people of Oxfordshire.”

Read again: 'Significant improvement' in Oxfordshire health and care system, says CQC

Last year the CQC slammed the county’s health and social care bosses over a disjointed system and which was affecting patient care.

Dr Bruno Holthof, Chief Executive of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust says: “I would like to thank all health and social care staff whose hard work has been recognised by the CQC in the report published this week.

“Staff well-being and morale is very important to us. Our staff care deeply about what they do, and are often working in challenging conditions. In response to our staff survey last year, we held listening events on every site and in every directorate to develop local actions plans to address the concerns and ideas we heard from staff and make the trust a better place to work.

We know that we need to keep focused on this, and we are working with staff on how best to do that.

He added that staff shortage was a ‘national challenge’ for the NHS and that various steps are being taken, including recruiting nurses from overseas and working closely with Oxford Brookes University.

Kate Terroni, the county council’s director of adult social care, said: “We are pleased that the report reflects the progress we have made as a system and that it recognises the work we have done to improve outcomes for residents. We are only eight-months into an 18-month action plan and there is still work to do.

“Recent changes to council-funded daytime support are now embedded and proving popular with people who attend.

“We welcome the participation of our voluntary sector partners."