The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called for the entire Powys Teaching Health Board to be sacked following its decision to press ahead with a consultation on changes to community hospitals.

The party has called on Health Minister Mabon ap Gwynfor to immediately intervene and sack the board if it refuses to pause the process.

The call came after health board members unanimously voted on Wednesday to begin a 14-week public consultation on proposals which could see community hospital inpatient beds reduced from 146 across eight sites to as few as 60 at Brecon and Newtown.

Earlier in the day, Welsh Liberal Democrat MS Jane Dodds and Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe MP David Chadwick handed the health board a petition containing 7,930 signatures opposing cuts to community hospitals.

The Lib Dems have described the consultation as a “sham”, arguing that key options have already been discarded before residents have had the chance to respond.

They also questioned claims made during Wednesday’s health board meeting that the Better Together process had been shaped by thousands of people and “driven by staff”.

The party said many staff members it had spoken to had raised serious concerns about the proposals.

Mr Chadwick said: “Today we handed the Health Board 7,930 signatures from people asking them to protect our community hospitals. Hours later, every single member of the Board voted to press ahead.

“Confidence has been steadily eroded by a process in which key options have been removed before the public consultation has even begun, while serious questions remain about the evidence being used to justify these plans.

“We were told this process has been driven by staff. That simply does not match what healthcare workers themselves have been telling us. Staff have approached us with serious concerns about these proposals and deserve to have their voices represented accurately.

“I no longer believe this Board commands the confidence of the people it is supposed to serve. Mabon ap Gwynfor should sack the Board and intervene.”

Ms Dodds said she also had “no confidence” in the board continuing after Wednesday’s meeting.

She said: “People across Powys have engaged with this process in good faith, but they are being offered a consultation where some of the most important choices have already been taken off the table.

“The Health Minister cannot simply watch from the sidelines. His Government holds the purse strings for our NHS and needs to provide Powys with the funding necessary to avoid these savage cuts.

“Plaid Cymru promised a rural premium for public services before the election. Powys is precisely the kind of place that promise was supposed to help. Now is the time for them to prove it meant something.”