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OXFORD'S private hospital has announced it intends to make redundancies, but has denied the move is due to a slump in NHS work.

The Manor Hospital in Headington has confirmed it is due to close two of its four wards and two of its six theatres as part of the "restructure", but it is still unclear how many staff will go.

The hospital is part of the Nuffield Hospital Group and opened in 2004, replacing the Acland in the city centre.

In the last few years it has been commissioned to treat many NHS patients as part of a drive to cut waiting times in the health service.

But although the number of people being referred from Oxford's John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospitals and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre has dropped, staff at the Manor said the redundancies had not been prompted by a fall in patients.

Instead, they claim changes in the way people are treated has led to fewer beds being needed.

Spokesman Ben Taptiklis said: "The length of stay in hospital is slightly shorter now for most procedures, which means we use fewer beds.

"We have six theatres and four wards, but the hospital was built slightly over capacity because the plans were drawn up about six years before it was finally built.

"We find that theatres are only booked for two to three hours a day. It's more cost effective for us to book fewer theatres for whole days.

"This restructure is being carried out to maximise the efficiency of the hospital in order to ensure continued high value for patients. It doesn't reflect a decline in the number of patients being treated. Our very high standard of patient care will not be in any way compromised."

This is the third round of redundancies to take place at the Manor Hospital since it opened.

As part of a Government initiative, NHS patients - most of whom were due to have orthopaedic surgery - were invited to have their operations at the Manor to speed up their waiting time.

The NOC said it stopped referring patients there "over a year ago".

And this year, only a few patients have been sent to the Manor from the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust to help ease pressures during the transfer of services from the Radcliffe Infirmary to the JR.

9:07am Monday 12th February 2007

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