The public does not trust West Sussex PCT to make a decision on the future of healthcare in the area, according to Chichester District Council's leader.
Cllr Myles Cullen said he was left angered and frustrated by the lack of responses given by the PCT at the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) last week.
The JHOSC was given nearly 300 letters by members of the public, and listene
d to submissions from local authorities and other interested bodies, but Cllr Cullen said the PCT did not have any answers to the concerns raised.
He said: "The PCT came to this meeting totally unprepared, and did not have any of the necessary evidence to back up its decision to downgrade St Richard's Hospital.
"Its plans for the future of the ambulance service and maternity services are all aspirational – there doesn't seem to be worked-up proposals to ensure the provision of health services at current levels, should St Richard's be downgraded."
Cllr Cullen said while he acknowledged JHOSC had a process to follow, he thought the PCT's decision should be referred to the secretary of state for health.
"At the beginning of May, Lord Darzi, the parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department of Health, said the public will be the decision makers on hospital closures," he said.
"The public has spoken, but the PCT has not listened."
Cllr Cullen also told supporters of St Richard's not to give up hope.
He said: "Elsewhere in the country, other proposals being considered by the secretary of state's independent reconfiguration panel are being thrown out, so the fight isn't over yet."
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The full article contains 345 words and appears in OS-Chichester Observer newspaper.
