MEMBERS of Community Health Councils in Burnley and Blackburn have hit out at news their replacement will cost almost ten times more than they do.

The Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley CHC and Burnley CHC are two of hundreds of CHCs which are due to be abolished by the Government in a shake-up scheduled for 2003.

They are due to be replaced by Patient Advocacy Liaison Services (PALS), patient forums and scrutiny bodies, to be run by local authorities.

But, in figures put together by members of the CHC nationally, it has been estimated that the cost to replace CHCs as they are, will be £221 million during 2003-4, compared with £23 million annually currently spent on running CHCs.

Frank Clifford, chairman of the Burnley CHC, which has just been awarded a Charter Mark for its service, said: "The CHC represents the best value in terms of independent service to people in the field of healthcare.

"When you consider the work we do and what the Government is proposing to replace us with, then I think it is not unreasonable to illustrate that there is going to be an awful lot more money involved."

Mr Clifford said the several organisations proposed to replace the CHC will have no statutory powers and therefore will be less effective.

"The whole thing is both costly, confusing to the general public and I don't think will be as effective. Unless it has statutory powers, it isn't worth the paper it is written on."

Nigel Robinson, chief officer for Blackburn CHC, said: "I am absolutely horrified that this is going to be the cost. I already knew that the PALS service was going to be expensive, but to find that each PALS will cost the same as each CHC is ridiculous.

"Equally, I am appalled that this is the second time the Government has tried to make changes and replace the CHC and they still have not done any costings."

He added: "How you can put a new service in and not know how much it is going to cost is positively pathetic."

Blackburn has already set up its own PALS service, after being chosen as one of a handful of national pilots to receive extra funding. But others which must be set up next year, will get no extra funding, and the Association of Community Health Councils for England and Wales believes each trust will have to find £16,000 from existing resources, as the Government has only allocated £10 million.

Peter Walsh, director of ACHEW, said: "If you are going to spend this much on patient involvement, then you ought to make sure you get it right, but there is a widespread worry that the Government is replacing an effective, independent local watchdog, with a cumbersome, fragmented and ineffective system.

"The question is, is the public getting value for money? Public money might better have been used to build on the 25 years'-worth of experience and goodwill that exists with CHCs. Instead, the Government looks set on abolishing them."

The association has written to local MPs to ask for their support in asking for changes to the Bill in the Commons, by David Hinchcliffe MP, which ask for patients' forums to be established in each area, which would be a 'one-stop shop' for the public and work closely with authorities.

The Bill gets its third reading today in the House of Commons.