GPs in Kingston will decide whether the public should be consulted on plans to axe accident and emergency and maternity services at two south-west London hospitals – but they do not know when.

Clinical commissioning group (CCG) board members will vote on whether Better Services Better Value (BSBV) plans are fit for consultation at a joint meeting, likely to take place in June.

The fate of services at Epsom, St Helier, and Croydon hospitals lies in the hands of GPs from seven CCGs, though Kingston Hospital is not in the firing line.

But after months of planning and millions spent on the process, a BSBV spokesman said he could not confirm either the date or location of the meeting as the group was still checking diaries and venues.

It also emerged NHS England will attend the meeting and will vote on the proposals.

The BSBV spokesman said "unanimous support" of the CCGs and NHS England will be required for the proposals to go to consultation, and that NHS England has a role in the decision-making process because it is responsible for commissioning specialist services.

The spokesman said: "First, all the CCGs have to agree to meet. Then we need to check diaries and potential venues and arrange a meeting at a mutually convenient time for all concerned."

He added the meeting will in fact be seven CCG meetings, “taking place together in public, through a single chair" and that a date would be publicised as soon as it was set.

Charlotte Joll, BSBV programme director, told Kingston CCG governing board members at a meeting that value for money was a key driver of the review.

She said: “I would like to say that finances are important – we all have a responsibility to make sure that we spend tax-payers’ money really well.”

Dr Naz Jivani, Kingston CCG governing board chairman, told colleagues: “We felt that no change is not an option.”

It has not been decided which of Kingston’s board members will attend.