The party - which is in a coalition

Jane Hutt: Under pressure to remove management tiers

administration with Labour - says it is not at all clear how the responsibilities of the health authorities will be shared out and that there is every chance that the changes will weaken accountability and increase bureaucracy.

The Lib Dems will be putting a series of questions to Ms Hutt on this issue during the Health committee debate in the assembly chamber in Cardiff Bay on Wednesday afternoon.

They say that she will not be able to rely on their support until she answers their concerns or until her proposals are altered.

Plans for the radical blueprint for the management of the NHS were first outlined in the spring.

Under the changes, part of a 10-year plan to modernise the NHS and remove management tiers, the five existing health authorities who control and buy health services for their area will be abolished next April.

A management layer will be cut at hospitals

They will be replaced instead by a more complex administrative structure made up of 22 local health boards, three consortia of the boards, and three health economy teams which will supervise the running of the system.

The assembly has put the changes out to wide consultation and no less than 345 different organisations and individuals have taken part in the process.

But there has been widespread opposition to the assembly's proposals.

Last week, Plaid Cymru's spokesman on health Dr Dai Lloyd accused the assembly of being "obsessed with structural change" at the expense of patient care.

Unions are also against the plans. The public health services union Unison believes jobs will be lost if the changes are implemented.

Plaid's Dr Dai Lloyd: Opposed to the plans

Health organisations such as the BMA as well as GPs have expressed their concerns.

The NHS Confederation in Wales said the plans were "less accountable, offer worse value for money and consist of too many separate bodies."

Similar moves are planned in Scotland which is to scrap 43 health trusts there and replace them with 15 health boards.

In England, though, both health authorities and trusts remain in place.

The new plans for Wales will be debated in the assembly chamber on Wednesday afternoon.