A public-consultation document into scrapping and replacing a mental health unit, where patients have committed suicide, has been condemned by health watchdogs.

Airedale Community Health Council (CHC) says there is insufficient detail in the Bradford and District Care Trust document which proposes to axe services at Airedale General Hospital.

Trust bosses, who took over the services from Airedale NHS Trust late last year, say wards four and 11 are not fit for their purpose. They are consulting the public about radical changes to the service. The consultation exercise ends on February 28.

Five mental-health patients at Airedale have committed suicide by leaving the wards undetected in the last two years.

A Mental Health Act Commission claims a culture of suicide by hanging has grown up on one of the wards.

At a meeting of Airedale NHS Trust "Shadow" Patients Forum yesterday it emerged that John Godward, CHC chief officer, had written to Care Trust boss Con Egan, on behalf of the Craven patients' forum.

Mr Godward said: "There is no way the CHC, and I suspect the scrutiny committees, could approve such a document because it is too vague."

The committee is demanding to know more details about the number of mental patients using the service.

"It also wants the public to be informed about the needs and requirements of patients and the document to state how those needs would be met," said Mr Godward. "And it condemns the suggestion that Lynfield Mount Hospital, Bradford, could be used by patients in the Craven area.

"A new service which is likely to cost millions can't be based on the imperfect knowledge of the public and even the CHC. We need to know about the number of patients going through the service and we need to know how many beds are needed. The document talks about more people being nursed in the community but the trend is that more people are going into hospital with mental health problems."

Trust bosses have outlined three options - building a new unit in the grounds of Airedale Hospital, constructing a smaller unit and more people being treated at home, or building or adapting premises on other sites.

Nobody from the Care Trust was available to comment.