Reams of documents about the controversial decision to close Leeds children’s heart surgery unit have been disclosed to a Leeds councillor.
Coun John Illingworth had been demanding the paperwork from an NHS body behind the move.
After threatening to complain to the Government information watchdog, Coun Illingworth has now been sent 18kg of documents relating to the decision.
However he is still seeking more information which has been deemed confidential.
And he is asking for some further detail to be released as soon as possible, as he says it is crucial for a legal challenge to the decision.
Health bosses decided in July to close the Leeds General Infirmary service as part of a national shake-up.
Since then, the Health Secretary has announced the closures will be independently reviewed.
The Yorkshire and the Humber Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) have also asked Mr Hunt to intervene too.
But they have been asking for more information about the work of the Safe and Sustainable review, which drew up the plans for the shake-up, and the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts, which made the final decision.
Last year the Yorkshire Evening Post reported that JHOSC chairman Coun Illingworth had asked the Information Commissioner to force the handover of paperwork.
They advised that he should go through an internal complaints procedure and now a bundle of 3,400 pages of documents have been provided.
However some of the information is said to be confidential by NHS Specialised Services, the body overseeing the children’s heart surgery review.
Coun Illingworth said he did not think they should be kept secret and there was a strong case for disclosing them in the public interest.
He is also asking for the immediate disclosure of more details of an assessment of care at the LGI unit, which he says is crucial for an upcoming judicial review against the decision being brought by Leeds campaign group Save Our Surgery,
He said: “I am concerned about the fact that we have got a court case going on which has been brought forward by the National Specialised Commissioning Team, but they are denying the court the opportunity to make a fully informed decision.”
The court case will be heard in February.
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