PRIORITY needs to be given to supporting local services in any re-organisation of health services in the county, said Evesham county councillor John Smith.

He was speaking ahead of today's debate at County Hall in Worcester when Worcestershire county councillors will be looking at proposals from the Department of Health on the consultation paper Commissioning a Patient-Led NHS.

Councillors will then feed their views to members of the cabinet who will then make a formal response.

The main thrust of the proposals would see the county's three Primary Care Trusts merged into one, while the strategic health authorities of the region forming one to serve the whole of the West Midlands.

Hereford and Worcester's Ambulance Trust would also be amalgamated with those from Staffordshire, Coventry and Warwickshire, Shropshire and the West Midlands.

Cllr Smith said: "As far as the PCTs are concerned, if it means they are going to be more efficient and effective and at the same time be able to support local facilities, I am quite happy with what is being suggested."

He stressed: "Local services, as far as I am concerned, are crucial. The nearer you can get facilities to the people the better it is, while at the same time understanding that major operations and some other aspects of health care have to be dealt with further afield."

Cllr Philip Gretton, cabinet member for audit and community services, who will lead the debate, said: "I feel we should look at the proposals in two ways. Firstly, whether they are likely to improve health services in this county, which are funded well below the national average and faces regular financial crises. Secondly, we should look at the impact on this council's services for older people and people with disabilities and mental health problems, which are operated in close partnership with the PCTs."

Members of the cabinet will meet on March 6 to formalise their response. All views are requested by the DoH by March 22.

l A Commons health select committee has claimed there was little evidence benefits would outweigh the costs of the reforms proposed by Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt. Since the PCTs were created only three years ago, it would be ill-judged in the extreme to propose more reforms so soon and there were well-founded concerns that patients would suffer, the committee says.