DR Taylor was damning in his criticism of how health chiefs handled the county health shake-up.

He warned of the "unscrupulous methods" managers used and the sham of public consultation.

He said: "Divide and rule is one of the techniques; some are given enough to be kept quiet."

In the consultation process, of 122 responses from official bodies, 50, nearly half, came from 20 per cent of the population in the north-west of the county. Of those, 49 were "rigidly" against the plan.

However, the majority, who approved the plan, came from the south and east.

He stressed the Local Medical Committee, which represents county GPs, rejected the proposals and found no evidence they would provide a better, safer service.

He noted Labour minister Jacqui Smith, Redditch, was reported by Worcestershire Health Authority saying she supported the new Worcester hospital "but not one which would centralise basic services from local people."

Dr Taylor said: "That is just what the plan did for my constituents - but not for hers."

He said the consultation had been brought into "disrepute" by the use of option appraisals.

He added: "If members find them mentioned in hospital service reviews, they should beware.

"They are merely a method of wrapping up pseudo-statistics which are produced to confuse.

"In the Worcestershire case, the option appraisal was purely and simply a vote by the majority in the south and east against the minority in the north and west."

He said in an era of supposed open Government he was "staggered" communications between the West Midlands regional office and the Department of Health was secret.

He said: "Nobody can get at them.

"The reasons quoted are that the hospital would be unviable because of Royal College guidelines for consultant specialisation and junior doctor training.

"That was absolute rubbish because the same guidelines were interpreted differently in many parts of the country."

The former Kidderminster Hospital consultant added the down- grading was engineered by loss of staff after the "kiss of death" was put on the site.

The population then had to suffer Government spin and the denigration of campaigners dubbed "medical dinosaurs" by opponents.

However, Ms Blears stressed she did not want to go over "old ground".

She said: "The proposals in the Investing in Excellence strategy document were aimed at ensuring that we improved the quality of health services for patients across the whole of Worcestershire."