The chairman of a Croydon patient forum, ensuring local people have their say in decisions about borough health services, says he is angry at Government plans to abolish the group.

The Department of Health announced last month that Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) forums were to be replaced with Local Involvement Networks (LINks), billed as a much wider patient and public involvement system.

However Peter Howard from Shirley is campaigning against the plans and is encouraging the community to write to their local MPs in protest.

Mr Howard argues that LINks, which will cover an area rather than a specific organisation and will have members from user groups, local voluntary and community sector organisations and interested individuals, will not be truly independent.

He said: "The new group LINks will be run under the auspices of the council's overview and scrutiny committees," adding: "We don't think this is good for democracy.

"We are truly independent and we are entitled by law to enter hospitals. We've got a very glossy booklet about the proposals but it doesn't say anything about people going to do hospital inspections or independent reports."

PPI forums have only been in place for two-and-a-half years having replaced Community Health Councils after they were abolished in England in 2003. At the time the transition period between the two groups was criticised.

Sharon Grant, chair of the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement (CPPIH) said: "The Department of Health must learn from the past. Patients and the public were left in a vacuum between the demise of Community Health Councils and PPI Forums becoming effective. This can't happen again."

Mr Howard added that LINks runs the risk of becoming "a talking shop" because of the amount of people involved compared with the 12 dedicated volunteers that form the Croydon PPI.

He said: "It's a total retrograde step. It's got to be fought otherwise you will hand power back to the politicians."

Andrew Pelling, MP for Croydon central, said that he agreed with Mr Howard's concerns. "I think this is the second attempt by the Government to try and destroy accountability in the health service.

"I'm very concerned about the proposed abolition as it doesn't offer the immediate prospect of proper scrutiny."

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "The proposals will create a stronger voice for patients, for users of social care services, and for the public more generally by offering people a wider range of opportunities to express their views, preferences and experiences so that many more people can become involved in activities, and in ways that suit them."