The decision to move endoscopy service out of the Ramsey Cottage Hospital has been referred to a scrutiny committee by one of the town’s MHKs.

LibVan MHK Lawrie Hooper says he was ’shocked and disappointed’ to learn of the decision to transfer the service to Noble’s.

And he says the way the Department of Health and Social Care has handled communicating this decision is ’nothing short of scandalous’.

He said on his Facebook page: ’Patients deserve better, staff deserve better, those donating their time and energy to supporting the health service deserve better and importantly the public deserve better.

’Because of this I have written to the chairman of the Social Affairs policy review committee to ask him to investigate the way the department handled this issue and to hold them accountable for their failures.’

Mr Hooper said he was shocked by the decision to transfer services not just because it ’seemed like a backwards step’ but mainly because of the way he found out through the rumour mill.

He added: ’Staff morale has been hit, patients were left in limbo, uncertain about their treatments, and public confidence in government has taken another battering.

’The way the department has handled communicating this decision is nothing short of scandalous.

’We have to rebuild trust in government. We can’t live with "lessons have been learned" any more.

’When mistakes are made we need to hold government to account to make sure they don’t keep repeating these mistakes.

Health chiefs insist that centralising endoscopy services at the purpose-built unit at Noble’s will cut waiting times from 33 weeks to just six.

They stress there is no threat to the future of Ramsey Cottage Hospital and that running the endoscopy service on two sites is ’neither efficient nor sensible’.

But welfare trustees at the Cottage Hospital have announced a moratorium on all future funding in protest at what they say is the ’unprecedented’ decision.

They point out that all of the of the endoscopy equipment at Ramsey had been funded from charitable sources.

Some 140 people attended a requisition meeting on May 23 to discuss the future of Ramsey Cottage Hospital.

They resolved unanimously that the endoscopy unit should be restored to Ramsey Cottage Hospital until a sustainable plan can be agreed.

Mr Hooper said after the meeting that it was frustrating that the League of Friends and welfare trust ’never once’ mentioned patient care and were focused on the money they had raised and the equipment donated.