Table 1.

 Comparison of arrangements for patient and public involvement in England

	Community health councils	Patient and public involvement forums	LINks
Number	185	572	152
Establishing body	Regional NHS office	CPPIH	Local authority
Coverage	Locality based	All NHS trusts and primary care trusts	Local authorities
Remit	NHS, including public health	NHS, including public health	Health and social care
Number of members	15–25	Minimum of 7	To be decided locally
How members appointed	1/2 by local authorities, 1/3 elected by voluntary sector, remainder by NHS regions	By application to the CPPIH	By local host organization
How accountable	Not clear, but nominating organizations had power to remove them	To CPPIH	To be decided locally
Staff	Staff selected by members and employed by the NHS	Staff employed through voluntary organizations contracted to provide support	Staff employed by local host organization
Access and premises	Local office in each district	No local offices	Local host organization
Rights and powers	Rights to information, visits NHS premises, observer status on health authority boards, to be consulted on major changes and appeal to the Secretary of State	Rights to information and visit NHS premises	To be decided

NHS, National Health Servicel CPPIH, Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health; LINks, Local Involvement Networks; OSC, overview and scrutiny committee.