Pembrokeshire may lose its strong voice on the Community Health Council (CHC) with the reorganisation of the patient watchdog, warns Preseli Pembrokeshire AM Paul Davies.
Welsh Health Minister Edwina Hart is merging Wales’ 19 CHCs into eight larger ones from April 1st 2010.
In West Wales the former Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire CHCs are being merged into a super-CHC called the Hywel Dda CHC.
It means that the Pembrokeshire element will be almost cut in half – from 25 local members on the existing board to 12 on the new one. This could be increased if co-opted members of the new CHC come from Pembrokeshire.
“The 25 members of the current Pembrokeshire CHC obviously put local issues first,” explained Mr Davies.
“Under the new arrangements each of the counties will have 12 members on the Hywel Dda CHC. I am concerned that Pembrokeshire will lose the strong voice that it traditionally had when it came to standing up for patients’ rights and holding the health service to account.
“I’m also worried that if issues go to a vote then Pembrokeshire members will be outnumbered and could be voted down.”
“I hope that our members carry on getting the excellent operational support they receive at present and I urge the Health Minister to give reassurances to both CHC members and the people of Pembrokeshire regarding this.”
Mr Davies believes that the local CHCs should stay, with each sending a few representatives to a new super CHC.
“The new CHC will have 36 members which I think will be too big and unwieldy. It would be better to have decisions about Pembrokeshire still taken locally and with representatives sent to a smaller, more effective super CHC.”
Mr Davies, who has campaigned against the CHC mergers for more than three years, is also calling for the new CHC to have its headquarters in Haverfordwest.
“There seems to be quite a lot of grey area in the details at the moment – some of which is over the location of the new CHC headquarters,” he added.
“I think it should be in Pembrokeshire alongside the Hywel Dda headquarters, surely this makes the most sense.”
