Health bosses have been summoned to appear before Maidstone councillors to explain plans to move maternity services out of the county town.

The council's Lib Dem group leader Cllr Fran Wilson, pictured, is set to make a 'Councillor Call for Action' at Maidstone council’s scrutiny committee next week.
The meeting will call a number of people for interview including Steve Phoenix, chief executive of NHS West Kent, and Glenn Douglas, chief executive of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

Also called is Alan Pentecost, a retired obstetrician, and a representative of the local British Medical Association.
Cllr Wilson’s call is against proposals to move full maternity services to the new Pembury Hospital, while leaving a birthing unit, unable to deal with births with complications, at Maidstone.
In a report to the meeting, Cllr Wilson said that the statistical evidence did not back the proposed move.
“I believe the people of Maidstone, but especially the people I represent in High Street ward – the fourth most deprived area in the South East – are entitled to a full explanation as to why this statistical evidence is being ignored and we demand that the full consultancy led maternity unit remains in Maidstone,” she said.

Committee chairman, Cllr Eric Hotson, who said he expected the meeting to be well attended, said: "It is a big issue in Maidstone and this gives us an opportunity to get the latest information from the hospital executive."

The campaign against the proposed move is gathering momentum, with both Conservative and Lib Dem prospective parlaimentary candidates, Helen Grant and Peter Carroll, both leading high-profile protests.