Proposals which could see Kingston Hospital given more independence from the NHS will be discussed on Monday evening.

The hospital is in the middle of a 12-week public consultation on the ground-breaking proposals, but only 20 people have attended the first three meetings.

The director of nursing’s claim that services could be taken away from the hospital if it does not gain foundation trust status were rejected by union leaders last week.

Critics have said foundation hospitals create a two-tier NHS, are unaccountable to the Health Minister, borrow money more expensively from the private sector and are not properly accountable to communities because they can operate with a small number of members.

NHS national chief executive David Nicholson has said hospitals which do not achieve foundation trust status could be taken over by other trusts.

The meeting takes place at 6.15pm in Lecture Theatre 1 at Kingston Hospital.

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