Health chiefs have been rapped over the knuckles after deciding to axe services at a Bishopstoke hospital a year earlier than planned.

For the first time, Hampshire County Council's Health Review Committee called on Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare Trust bosses to justify their decision to close in-patient facilities at The Mount, without letting health committees and the public have their say.

They claim that it is contrary to the trust's legal requirements. Under the move, Mount patients would be transferred to Winchester's Royal County Hampshire Hospital.

The committee has ordered the trust to hold a four-week consultation to explore viable alternative arrangements, including ways to keep The Mount running, with local primary care trusts.

They are unhappy with the lack of communication between the trust and local PCTS in exploring other options.

Committee chairman, Raymond Ellis, said: "We are all on a learning curve. The trust will get to learn that consultation is the key to getting it right. Our role is to make sure we don't lose vital services."

But trust bosses have warned that they have a duty to ensure that patients receive quality care in a safe environment and can override any recommendations on those grounds.

Chief executive of WEHT, Rod Halls, said: "People will have to bear in mind that our proposal may be the one that we go for. We think this temporary move is absolutely the right thing to do under the circumstances."

In a joint statement, Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust, together with both Eastleigh and Test Valley South and Mid Hampshire PCTs, welcomed the conclusions and recommendations from Hampshire County Council's Health Review Committee.

It added: "The trust and PCTs are committed to continue to work together in a further attempt to ensure that services can be safely and sustainably retained at the Mount until the new local service is developed.

"We will now be exploring the options that would enable us to do this and investigating the possibility of bringing forward the implementation of the new model of service.''