WELSH Government proposals to abolish Community Health Councils (CHCs) would weaken rather than strengthen the patient’s voice, Monmouth AM Nick Ramsay said on Monday.

Plans to introduce a new body with a remit across health and social care were unveiled in the Welsh Government’s White Paper, Services Fit for The Future, which was published last week.

Expressing his concern, Mr Ramsay said, ‘I fear that these proposals would bring to an end the long standing arrangements set up to place power in the hands of local people.

‘Community Health Councils have played a vital role in monitoring how local NHS services are working and any plans to abolish them are in my view totally unacceptable.’