[1][2] The Commission was established by and act of Parliament on 10 December 2002[3] with a remit "to establish a new system of patient and public involvement in health for England involving traditionally hard to reach groups" – however, there was no agreed budget or management structure in place at that time.
Despite its recent set up and ongoing successes,[6] the commission was included in the Department of Health's "Arm's Length Body Review"[7] (starting November 2003, ending March 2004) and was included in the list of ALBs listed for abolition.
[8] In the original review, the Department of Health stated that "Patients’ Forums will remain the cornerstone of the arrangements we have put in place to create opportunities for patients and the public to influence health services" and that the "NHS Appointments Commission will appoint Forum members in the future."
However, it soon became clear that the Appointments Commission did not want to take responsibility for this, and the CPPIH continues to recruit members to the forums.
However, again due to budgetary restraints, many forums did not maintain their initial membership, and further recruitment was slowed to allow issues such as diversity and geographic location to be taken into account.