Croydon Council is taking legal advice as part of the fight to protect A&E and maternity services at Croydon University Hospital.

The services are under threat as part of NHS South West London’s Better Services Better Value review, which will see the A&E and Maternity ward at one of three south London hospitals, Croydon University Hospital, St Helier, Sutton, and Kingston Hospitals, closed.

A panel of 60, made up of representatives from each hospital trust, local authority members and community representatives, will convene on May 9 to score each hospital as part of the decision into which should lose the service.

Croydon Council has questioned the fairness of the panel make up and after a complaint was overturned, is seeking legal advice.

A spokesman from Croydon Council, said: "We have some serious concerns about the fairness of the NHS decision-making process which we believe could disadvantage the interests of Croydon residents.

"We have expressed these concerns to the NHS but they disagree with us. Therefore, we are taking legal advice with a view to protecting Croydon's interests. We will comment further once we have received and considered that advice."

Non-financial and financial factors will be given equal importance.

The importance placed on non-financial measures split, decided by the panel, is: clinical outcomes and safety - 32 per cent, patient experience - 22 per cent, workforce development - 19 per cent, access to services - 11 per cent deliverability - eight per cent and travel and transport - eight per cent.

Croydon Council is arguing the number of people treated by each hospital should be taken into account.

In total Croydon University Hospital’s A&E and maternity wards treated 110,065 patients in 2010/11 compared to 88,186 at Kingston Hospital and 84,926 at St Helier.

A Croydon Council spokesman said: "We are determined to do everything we can to protect the provision of essential services such as A&E and maternity at Croydon University Hospital."

A spokesman for Better Services and Better Value said: "There are many ways in which we could have composed the scoring panel, but we do not believe that weighting it per head of population would be the correct approach. There is no precedence for this approach in the NHS or elsewhere in the BSBV programme.

"It’s important to remember that the scoring panel is not a decision-making body. It will score options, which will then be combined with a separate financial appraisal, to generate an initial shortlist.

"This is only the first stage in the process, with further discussion at our Clinical Strategy Group and Programme Board, before a final shortlist is agreed by the Joint Boards of South West London Primary Care Trusts."