Fears for the future of Oxford's world famous Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre intensified last night - with a long standing patient joining the battle to protect it.

A timetable setting out how the NOC may be wound up as an independent trust has gone to the board of the South Central Strategic Health Authority.

The SHA said it was now ready to step up the search for an NHS Trust or private organisation interested in taking over the specialist hospital.

A final choice is expected to be made within a year, with the NOC potentially disappearing as a trust by April, 2010.

Patient Joyce Silvester, 84, of Stone Street, Oxford, first received treatment there for a spinal condition called scoliosis, aged 14.

She said: "The hospital must be allowed to continue practising its undoubted expertise with sufficient funding to cover highly specialised services, which are in demand nationwide and often worldwide."

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith immediately warned any "ill-judged merger proposal" would be met with a major campaign to secure the Headington hospital's future saying "it would not only be local - but international".

The speed of progress towards putting the NOC out to tender has shocked staff and former patients, who said the celebrated hospital was effectively being put up for sale.

With the health authority doubtful about the financial viability of the NOC, a study was commissioned by PricewaterhouseCoopers to assess the financial impact of merger. It concluded that benefits would be gained "by integrating the NOC with another provider to mitigate the financial risks faced by the trust".

The authority said it would now seek to identify potential partners, including other trusts and non-NHS organisations.

Mr Smith accused the health authority of being hasty and ignoring key developments.

Former GP Peter Skolar, chairman of Oxfordshire County Council's health scrutiny committee, said: "If the NOC is sold off to the highest bidder, the first thing the bidder will do is get rid of the loss making services."

NOC chief executive Jan Fowler said: "Our overriding priority is to ensure that any decisions secure the future delivery of our services