Patients kept in appalling conditions, fewer staff and debt were some of the fears raised about planned changes to St George's Hospital, Tooting, at a meeting last Tuesday.

St George's Healthcare NHS Trust has started a public consultation on becoming a Foundation Trust, a more independent way to run the hospital.

Attendees at an opening meeting voiced concerns that some foundation trust hospitals had been exposed as having poor care standards and had neglected patients.

Barbara Bohanna, of Beechcroft Road, Tooting, said: “Some patients had appalling treatment in foundation hospitals, and you have to ask, would that have happened in the old system? All the emphasis is on money and resources.”

She added: “What mechanisms do they have in place to make sure we don't go down the same routes that other foundation trusts have done?”

Others were worried the trust could run up debts, cut vital services or take doctors and nurses off wards.

Peter Jenkinson, St George's trust secretary, said the trust would be more accountable to users and local residents as a foundation.

“This is a real opportunity for you to be part of the future of St George's,” he told the Wandsworth Local Involvement Network (Link) meeting.

As a foundation trust, St George's would receive funding directly from the Department of Health, rather than the local primary care trust and would manage its finances independently.

Its patients, staff and local residents will be members of the trust and have an active say in management decisions.

The trust will be able to change and redesign the services it offers if members wish.

Wilfred Carneiro, equality and foundation trust membership manager, said St George's had worked hard to improve standards.

“St George's used to have very high infection rates and they've really transformed that,” he said. “We've got one of the lowest mortality rates in London.”

Mr Jenkinson said St George's finances were sustainable and it had made surpluses for the past three years.

“We are not slipping into debt,” he said.

The trust will also take control of Wandsworth community services.

The 12-week public consultation officially launched on Tuesday 25 May.