THE "golden years" of holding health chiefs to account are over, according to Bury's disbanded watchdog group.

Monday marked the end of an era for Bury Community Health Council (CHC) which, after 29 years of scrutinising decisions made by the local health authority, was discharged of its duties.

In line with Government legislation, CHCs throughout England are to be replaced with Commissions for Patient and Public Involvement in Health. Wales and Scotland will, however, retain their CHCs.

Mr Paul Reynolds, who has been chief officer of Bury CHC since 1976, said: "The golden years of patient and public involvement are over,"

"When CHCs first started it was an astonishing experiment and we will never see the like of them again. The council had the power to hold the secretary of state to account. That was a tremendous power.

"I feel strongly that had the Scottish MPs, who still have their councils, not voted with the Government to abolish CHCs then the bill would not have been passed. It was totally wrong for those MPs to vote on this issue."

He called on other community-based organisations to "pick up the baton" and fight for health services in Bury.

"Bury is in a vulnerable position and now it is time for the local authority and voluntary organisations to ensure that the health services in Bury are not watered down. For example, the loss of the accident and emergency department at Fairfield Hospital would be a catastrophe," he said.

Mr Reynolds (62) sat at the head of a committee made up of a deputy chief officer, councillors and members of the public, many of whom have gone on to work for the local health service, including the present chairman of Bury Primary Care Trust, Mrs Hilda Harvey.

Together, they fought on behalf on individuals and the borough as a whole to ensure the fair delivery of health care services in Bury.

Issues which the CHC have campaigned for over the past year have included the building of a new access road to Fairfield General, hospital car park charges and the closure of a mental health ward. However, in all cases council members failed to influence the decisions made by health managers.

But Mr Reynolds said: "We have won and lost some campaigns, issues that we should have won. As well as the well publicised campaigns we have fought on behalf of thousands of individuals. Our door was never closed."

Successes included fighting for a breast screening unit at Fairfield General Hospital, and preventing Bealey's Community Hospital from being demolished in the late 1970s.

The failure to secure public support for a modern hospital for Bury is, says Mr Reynolds, the CHC's biggest failure.

"Plans were ready to go ahead to build a state-of-the-art hospital on Spen Moor. But the Three Arrows Residents Association opposed the plans. This is a great pity and it has left a huge legacy, in that had this hospital gone ahead Bury's services would today be secure. There would be no talk of removing them. Instead the money went to the Royal Oldham Hospital, giving a town a fantastic hospital.

" feel very lucky to have worked with such committed members, particularly Rosemary Cotterell the deputy officer who has been the face of Bury CHC for 20 years. She has been the power behind this council."

Mr Reynolds said: "If there was one thing that I would have liked to seen happen before the council was abolished is the building of a new road from Heap Bridge to Fairfield Hospital. This would have assured the hospital's future in that it would have been the main hospital for motorway accidents."

He concluded: "I wish the new forum well but it will take it a while to become established and get to grips with things."