Councillors at Chichester District Council have asked for a judicial review of the decision to downgrade St Richard's Hospital.
Despite fierce opposition West Sussex Primary Care Trust decided to make Worthing Hospital the only major general hospi
tal in the county.
Campaigners say at rush-hour it could take up to an hour to get a patient from Chichester to Worthing.
A judicial review alone will not change the decision itself but will look at how the trust came to choose to downgrade services at St Richard's, in Chichester.
If the review finds that the process was legally flawed NHS managers will have to go through the decision-making process again but could still decide to centralise services in Worthing rather than Chichester.
The latest challenge comes as councillors on the joint health and overview committee in West Sussex are asking health secretary Alan Johnson to step into the row.
Councillor Myles Cullen, leader of the council, said: 'Whilst we are mindful to avoid incurring unnecessary public expenditure on court proceedings, we feel it is in the interests of the Chichester community to apply for judicial review of the West Sussex Primary Care Trust's decision over St Richard's Hospital.
'It is absolutely right that this council does everything possible.'
The full article contains 229 words and appears in The News newspaper.
