A CRUCIAL meeting will decide whether plans to close Epsom's A&E and maternity wards go to public consultation next month.
All seven governing boards of the Clinical Commissioning Groups affected by the review have now voted for the recommendations of the Better Services, Better Value (BSBV) review to be taken to the next stage.
A committee made up of three members from each of the CCGs affected by the review will meet in June, after the last CCG to come to a decision (Merton) announced it would follow the course of the other six, which have all met over the past few weeks.
The governing board of the Surrey Downs Clinical CCG met at Epsom Downs racecourse on May 17 to discuss the BSBV review, and voted to send three of its members – chief officer Miles Freeman, lay member Gavin Cookman and Dr Simon Williams - to the committee.
After the meeting, Ashtead's MP Chris Grayling said: "Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the representatives of local GPs agreed to move to the next stage of the process, which will almost certainly confirm that there will be a public consultation on downgrading Epsom Hospital.
"What was most disappointing was that the GP representatives made part of the case for change on the basis of factually-incorrect evidence, despite being challenged on accuracy."
Epsom Hospital has been included in the BSBV review of healthcare in south-west London after an attempt to merge it with Surrey's Ashford and St Peter's hospitals fell through last November.
Dr Claire Fuller, clinical chair of the Surrey Downs CCG told the Advertiser: "We understand some residents are worried about what any proposed changes could mean for local people, but we believe there is an opportunity to improve care, and it would be wrong for us to ignore this.
"If changes are proposed, we will be encouraging local people to have their say and tell us what they think as part of a three-month public consultation later in the year."
