The watchdogs will monitor standards

More than 4,600 volunteers from all sections of society have been recruited to take part in the Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) forums.

They are designed to oversee and advise health authorities on performance.

The forums have been given powers to monitor and inspect health facilities and private health provision contracted by the NHS.

We've opened the door on health to let the public in. Sharon Grant

They will also be asked to obtain views from their communities and make recommendations about health services.

In total there will be 572 PPI forums - one for every local health trust in England.

They have been set up by the government-sponsored Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH).

The groups will report directly to the trust they monitor - including NHS trusts, Primary Care Trusts and ambulance trusts - who will then be required to respond to any concerns.

They will also report to the commission, which will collate the information and advise the Secretary of State on major issues.

CHC replacement

The forums replace Community Health Councils, which the commission said were much fewer in number, had fewer powers and had been dismissed in some quarters as mere "talking shops".

However, advocates of the CHC system have questioned whether the new forums will have real independence.

Sharon Grant, CPPIH chair, said: "The arrival of the commission, with the powerful, new local forums, marks a major step forward.

"Together we're opening up the prospect of a true shift in power in local and national decision making and a far greater sharing of information between patients, the public and decision makers in the future."

"Today we've opened the door on health to let the public in."

Health Minister Rosie Winterton, officially launching the forums on Wednesday, said they would be a great way to find out what people thought about local health services.

Lost experience

However, Sarah Teather, Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, said the NHS had lost a wealth of experience with the abolition of CHCs.

She said: "It is vital that patients have support in their dealings with the NHS. This should be at the core of what the NHS is about. Instead patients have been faced with a vacuum.

"The new arrangements are a confusing, complex and costly replacement. Patients need a simple, clear system that really involves them - not just a talking shop.

"The government has so little interest in these forums that they tried to stop foundation hospitals having to have them.

"Weak and fragmented patients forums are the watchdog that cannot bark."