High Court challenge lodged over plans to downgrade Stafford Hospital

Papers have been lodged at Birmingham High Court calling for a judicial review of the decision to strip services.

Labour's parliamentary candidate for Stafford, Kate Godfrey, is behind the action.

She said today: "'I am leading this High Court battle as someone needs to take a lead and stand up for Stafford Hospital. Fifty thousand people who marched in Stafford can't be wrong.

"We knew from the beginning of the consultation period that the administrators had a clear end in view.

"Sadly, that end was to downgrade our hospital and to take away the wards that people here in Stafford most value.

"The consultation was an exercise in mockery – meetings had to be closed when too many people turned up and still between the draft and final reports there is hardly a paragraph which suggests the trust special administrators were prepared to listen to local people."

Miss Godfrey claims a thorough analysis into the hospital was not carried out by the trust special administrators.

A separate challenge has been launched by the Support Stafford Hospital campaign group but is yet to be handed in.

Stafford Borough Council has agreed to pay for the battle against Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt's proposed overhaul of the site. Meetings with lawyers are currently being held.

In February, the Health Secretary approved the plans to dissolve Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, with the University Hospital of North Staffordshire taking over the site.

A statement from the trust special administrators states: "The TSAs continue to implement the approved recommendations, with no alteration to their running of the trust, and are satisfied that they have followed all the correct procedures during the administration process."