THE future of Wantage Community Hospital could become a little clearer this week when health bosses present plans for a new 'framework' for care across Oxfordshire.

The plans will be presented at a meeting of the Joint Health and Overview Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) meeting on Thursday.

Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group chief executive Louise Patten said the

paper will include an outline timetable for how the new approach could be advanced in Wantage, after the 'temporary' closure of the community hospital in 2016.

However, she said the proposals were at an 'early stage'.

In a letter to the HOSC Ms Patten said: "We are committed to providing safe services and we completely understand the frustrations of the local population but we have to balance getting this absolutely right in terms of analysis of both current and future population needs and public involvement."

The new framework to establish the future of healthcare in the county will involve working with local communities to review local health needs while examining current

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, which owns Wantage Community Hospital, closed the final 12 in-patient beds in July 2016 on what it called a 'temporary' basis, while it dealt with a legionella issue.

However, two years later residents in the town now have to go elsewhere for the same services and fear the in-patient ward will not be reopened.

The meeting of the HOSC will take place at county hall in Oxford from 10am on Thursday.