It is time for the government to climb down from its dogmatic hatred of CHCs

Earl Howe Tory health spokesman

They claim the new forums are not an adequate replacement for the CHCs, which act as independent watchdogs for NHS patients.

Their view is supported by opposition peers who plan to challenge the abolition during the detailed committee stage of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Bill on Thursday.

Earl Howe, Tory health spokesman, said the controversial shake-up of the way the NHS is policed was "self evidently... a recipe for utter confusion".

'Fragment functions'

"Patients with problems will not know where to turn," he said.

"The clear, well-recognised, independent local voice of CHCs will go."

Earl Howe said the proposals would "fragment" functions of CHCs into several different bodies, creating bureaucracy that would be "less effective and will muffle the voice of patients".

The 204 CHCs in England and Wales are independent watchdogs which deal with 30,000 complaints against the NHS every year

Under the plans, patients' forums will monitor the health service, while scrutiny will be carried out by overview and scrutiny committees.

'Safety valve'

General information for patients will be provided by the patient advice and liaison service, while complaints will go to one or more local independent complaints advocacy services.

Earl Howe insisted: "It is time for the government to climb down from its dogmatic hatred of CHCs.

"We should take time to discuss a genuine scheme of reform; keep the one-stop shop for patients; preserve independent staffing and a clearly understandable voice.

"Without an independent safety valve, like CHCs, the patient has no defence in a monolithic system."

'Wavering support'

Earl Howe said the Tories were last year joined by the Liberal Democrats in fighting for an "independent patient voice".

But the peer said he feared the support was "wavering".

The Liberal Democrats would have to decide if they stood for an independent voice or were willing to accept the government's "cock-eyed system and condemn CHCs as patient watchdogs to extinction", he said.

Earlier this year a rebellion by Labour MPs failed to prevent the scrapping of CHCs when a compromise proposal by senior Labour MP David Hinchliffe was thrown out in the Commons.

Mr Hinchcliffe's amendment, to create patients' councils to oversee the new forums, was defeated by 296 votes to 222, a government majority of 77.