HEALTH services provided by community doctors and nurses in the Huddersfield area need a new impetus, a meeting was told.
Community health trusts had lost some of the momentum of their early days, Clr Mike Bower told a meeting of Kirklees Council's Overview and Scrutiny Panel for Social Affairs and Health at Huddersfield Town Hall.
The Lib Dem councillor said the initial days of the primary care NHS trusts in 2002 and their predecessors, the primary care groups, had a real feeling of change.
He said: "What's disappointed me is that the primary care groups were working so well and there was a real feeling that the health service was changing and moving forward. As the PCTs formed everything seemed to stop for 18 months."
Councillors were giving feedback on the Audit Commission's review of the two primary care NHS trusts in Huddersfield, which organise community medical services and pay for hospital treatment for patients.
The Audit Commission's report was interpreted by the Central Huddersfield PCT as suggesting their amalgamation.
But Huddersfield South PCT said it did not suggest formation of a single group, just more joint working.
Mr Rob Napier, chairman of the Huddersfield Central PCT
told councillors that, in his opinion, a merger was the best plan.
