Consultation on a far-reaching reorganisation of health services in Kent and Medway is to be delayed until next year, it has emerged.

Government plans for so-called Sustainability and Transformation Plans across the country represent the most radical shake-up in health care for decades, bringing together the NHS and other organisations much more closely.

Plans for the public, patient groups and others to have a say on the draft masterplan for Kent this year have had to rescheduled, although no date has been set.

Health chiefs say consultation on the first of two “waves” - including the future for emergency services in east Kent - cannot now take place because of a number of delays.

They say more time is needed “to undertake more public engagement” and they want to avoid consultation starting “too close to the Christmas holidays.”

The STP was also effectively put on hold for several weeks during the purdah period covering the election earlier this year.

That refers to the convention that restricts public bodies from any activity during an election campaign that could be construed as affecting support for a particular party.

And clinical commissioning groups - that are made up of GPs in local areas - have not been able to sign off or discuss the STP because of the need for them to do so under joint decision-making arrangements, which have yet to be agreed.

Under consultation plans, the first phase will focus on acute emergency services in east Kent, alongside services for stroke patients, those with heart problems and non-emergency orthopaedic treatments.

The second wave would focus on acute care services in the rest of Kent and Medway.

Cllr Theresa Murray (Labour), a Medway councillor who sits on the Kent and Medway NHS Joint Scrutiny Committee, said: “Any delay is not helpful, this is a plan that has huge implications for the NHS and the public need to know about what is in store from the STP,” she said.

Health chiefs say the shake-up is too important to be rushed. A statement issued by the board overseeing the plan said: “The STP Programme Board has agreed that plans for health and care services in east Kent, and for stroke services across Kent and Medway, will go out to public consultation as soon as they are fully ready."

"As part of the preparations for that, the plans will be reviewed by Kent’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and thoroughly tested and checked by the South East Clinical Senate and NHS England. It is a process that requires a great deal of hard work and, while it is being progressed as quickly as possible, it cannot be rushed.”

The Department for Health recently graded health care services in Kent as “making progress” against various targets including the development of its STP.

The STP has already sparked controversy through the suggestion that acute care at the Kent and Canterbury could be downgraded, with the William Harvey in Ashford hosting all main services, an A&E department and a maternity unit.

The STPs have also been criticised for being used as a cover for making cuts to save money.

The principal aim is to address health inequalities and shortcomings in quality as well as meeting government targets.

The Kent and Medway Sustainability and Transformation Board has been asked to comment.