Senior NHS managers are moving with "unseemly haste" towards a radical shake up that could privatise community hospitals, critics have warned.

It is feared the plans will lead to a rapid move towards the market testing of community healthcare.

Plans to change the way a raft of non-acute services are managed – such as outpatients and district nursing – were outlined by Cornwall's Primary Care Trust (PCT) last month and a similar process is under way in Devon.

Health Initiative Cornwall (HIC) says the proposals, which could ultimately see up to 35 community hospitals run by private companies, are being "pushed through under the radar".

Vice chairman Graham Webster said he only learned of the process after "gate-crashing" a stakeholders' meeting, and now predicts market testing and the possibility of private ownership.

"It is being pushed through under the radar and is being done at some pace," he said.

"We want to secure community health as a publicly-owned service which is right for patients and staff and this takes time.

"Proper consideration is not possible with this timescale and private companies are already sniffing around."

NHS trusts, which commission and provide community health services, were ordered by the previous Government to relinquish control next April.

The Department of Health launched the Transforming Community Services programme to set out how to implement a new system.

It applies to what is called the "provider arm" of the primary care trust, which provides frontline services.

The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly PCT consulted stakeholders, including GPs, last month and will decide next month between two temporary arrangements.

It will choose between creating a not-for-profit enterprise and allowing services to be managed by separate NHS organisations, such as the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust.

After a period of two, three or five years, a tender process will begin – and this will be open to private healthcare providers. Marna Blundy, the secretary of West Cornwall Healthwatch, said: "The term unseemly haste comes to mind – the pace of change is ridiculous. If you do something at breakneck speed you are not going to get it right.

"I see a move towards privatisation and I wonder if that is what people want – there are no other options on the table and we wonder where it is going to end."

Two events have taken place so far, on August 2 and 17, and a meeting of Cornwall Council's Health Scrutiny Committee has been called for September 10.

The PCT board will make a final decision on the new shape of the management structure on September 22.

A spokesman for the PCT said the process is in the early stages and the public will be consulted in October.

Carol Williams, director of service improvement, said: "The changes that we are talking about now will not affect patients as there will be no change to the services themselves, only to the body that is managing those services.

"Alongside our work to secure the best way for community health services to be managed, we are also planning to provide more care closer to home in local communities."

But the spokeswoman for the 503 GPs in Cornwall said not enough time had been given to consider all possibilities, such as council control or involving social services.

Dawn Molenkamp, executive manager of the Local Medical Committee, said: "Springing this on us in the middle of July during the main holiday period has put us in quite a tight spot.

"We think there are other options – apart from the two on offer – and are looking at alternatives for continuity of care for the patient and looking after the interests of community staff."

Conservative MP George Eustice, who represents the Cornish constituency of Camborne, Redruth and Hayle, said there was a "strong case" for letting hospital trusts take over in the interim period – but favoured competition in the longer term.

"We have always said we want to make it easier for private providers to come in – though services would remain free at the point of need," he said.

"If private companies can provide these services more efficiently in a way that works there is no reason to stop them doing so."

The Devon PCT says it is considering a similar choice and the executive board will consider final recommendations at the end of September.

Jayne Carroll, director of strategic commissioning, said: "We have invited staff to a number of events to discuss the future management of community health services.

"The meetings aim to involve them in decisions regarding the best way to manage community health services in a modernised NHS. The changes relate to the management of community health services only. Frontline services remain unaffected."