AN MP has spoken in Parliament to accuse hospital bosses of a “conspiracy of secret dealings” over a proposed merger.

Christchurch MP Chris Chope stood up in the House of Commons to call for the possible merger of the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospital and Poole Hospitals Trusts to be referred to the Competition Commission.

He said it was important as it was the first proposed merger but others were in the pipeline.

Mr Chope said the constitution of the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals said it should conduct its affairs in “an open and accessible way” and said the trust was in breach of a commitment to responding to members of Parliament.

He called on the hospital trusts to make people aware of any benefits of such a merger and discovered there was a document setting out those benefits. But when he asked for it, he “eventually received an almost totally redacted version”, he told the speaker.

“Indeed the only word in four pages on maternity services which is not redacted is ‘maternity’,” he said.

“This is scarcely credible and is indeed farcical.

“It makes a complete mockery of any public consultation because the Office of Fair Trading has got the task of finding out from local people whether they believe there are patient benefits which will outweigh the loss of choice and competition, which will inevitably result from this merger.”

Mr Chope said there was an atmosphere of fear about workers and members of the trust raising fears about the merger as they were threatened that Poole and Christchurch hospitals would have to be closed if the merger did not go ahead.

He said he was being barred from publicly discussing the answers to his questions amid a “conspiracy of secret dealings” and said the merged trusts would be without a 24-hour accident and emergency or maternity service in Bournemouth.

The Office of Fair Trading is due to make a decision on referring the merger to the Competition Commission by January 8.

In a previous joint statement, the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said staff, patients and the public would be consulted on any changes following a merger.

It read: “The principle of the merger is to ensure that we protect the future of services, given the challenges, and ensure that we continue to provide excellent care for local people.”