CHCs have helped patients with complaints against the NHS

Ministers have pledged to close the councils, which help patients deal with complaints against the NHS, by the end of this year.

But a report by the influential Commons health committee suggests this is too soon and calls for the councils to remain open until July 2004.

MPs said confusion over what is going to replace the councils could leave patients with nowhere to turn for help and advice.

Delay after delay

Ministers first announced plans to scrap the councils three years ago.

Their first attempt to abolish the councils was thwarted by the House of Lords, where many peers opposed the move.

Expecting CHC staff and members to continue to provide services is clearly problematic Spokesman, Association of CHCs

However, a second piece of legislation has since made it onto the statute books and the councils close their doors after almost 30 years in September.

But ministers gave the councils a further reprieve last month, saying they could remain open until December.

The councils are being replaced with new patient bodies. These include establishing patient forums or panels in every trust to have their say in the way it is run.

Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALS) are also being established in every trust to coordinate complaints.

They will be able to refer patients to the Independent Complaints and Advocacy Services (ICAS) which will pursue complaints against the NHS on behalf of patients.

Ministers have pledged that these structures will be in place by the end of the year when community health councils are abolished.

However, MPs said there was no evidence to back up these claims.

They recommended that CHCs should be extended for a further seven months to ensure "as smooth a handover process as possible".

The committee also criticised the way the government has handled the reforms.

They said the process has been dogged by confusion and delay.

They added that the introduction of new foundation trusts threatens to further confuse patients because they will create a second "parallel but entirely different" system.

Even without the introduction of foundation hospitals, the committee said the new arrangements were "complex and confusing", with patients having to negotiate as many as seven separate organisations in order to press a complaint.

The committee was scathing about former health minister David Lammy, who gave evidence to the committee in May before his move to the Department for Constitutional Affairs in the recent reshuffle.

"We are dismayed that at our evidence session Mr Lammy apparently failed to grasp the subtle but extremely important distinctions between the organisations which his government is currently setting up," the report said.

Councils surprised

The Association of Community Health Councils expressed surprise at the report's call for them to stay open until next year.

"We were very surprised that a further extension of CHCs is being called for," a spokesman said.

"While the committee has identified major failings in the rolling out of government policy on patient and public involvement in health, expecting CHC staff and members to continue to provide services is clearly problematic."

The association is planning to meet Department of Health officials to discuss the matter later this month.

The Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health, which will oversee the new bodies, said the reforms would benefit patients.

Its chairman Sharon Grant said talks were underway with the Department of Health to ensure that the new foundation trusts did not create "unnecessary confusion and dupilication".

"I am however encouraged by the interest which the Department of Health has shown in working with the commission to find a constructive solution to this problem," she said.

Liberal Democrat MP Paul Burstow said: "The NHS is ill-prepared for the start-up of the new patients' forums.