 The NHS in Wales was reorganised last year |
Health trusts and local health boards in Wales have been told they can merge, 18 months after a major shake-up in which they were created. In April 2003, Wales' five health authorities were abolished and replaced with 22 local health boards (LHBs), matching local council boundaries.
On Tuesday, First Minister Rhodri Morgan announced he was inviting "proposals for integration".
The Lib Dems warned the idea could become a "distraction".
And Plaid Cymru said the move created "confusion".
Mr Morgan said integration could occur between NHS trusts and LHBs where "integration will provide real benefits to patients and clients".
He said that "further change must be organic rather than wholesale" and it would be up to the health bodies themselves.
But Welsh Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Kirsty Williams warned that the idea "risked becoming a distraction for the NHS".
Ms Williams said: "Proposals which could lead to more re-organisation of the NHS in Wales must not be allowed to get in the way of tackling growing waiting times."
She said the plan was "simply not a good idea".
"Any reorganisation is a distraction for staff who are doing all they can to treat patients and improve the health of the nation.
"Reorganisation won't treat a single patient."
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But Mr Morgan said the proposal did not amount to a reorganisation, but was an invitation to trusts and health boards to propose mergers, if they wanted to.
He said five areas might be involved, with mergers based on the model which had been set up already in Powys.
 | POSSIBLE MERGER AREAS Carmarthen Ceredigion Merthyr Pembrokeshire Swansea |
"There's no reorganisation of health services in Wales for obvious reasons, because it's already been done," he told BBC Radio Wales.
Plaid Cymru health spokesman Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM said Labour had created "confusion over the future of health bodies".
"There are five possible mergers that could occur from the integration: Merthyr, Swansea, Carmarthen, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. Why couldn't we have done this before?"
He added: "How much money has it cost to establish these local health boards and how much is it going to cost to merge them with the local health trusts?
"Is this just a distraction by the Labour assembly government from tackling issues such as waiting lists and times?"
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Any reorganisation is a distraction for staff who are doing all they can to treat patients and improve the health of the nation. 
