A provisional date has been set for the downgrading of the A&E at King George Hospital and centralising of services at Romford’s Queen’s Hospital.

A draft of the North East London Sustainability and Transformation Plan (NEL STP), which outlines the five-year plan for NHS services in the area, has been published.

It states that the closure of King George A&E, in Barley Lane, Goodmayes, will be completed by summer 2019, when it will be replaced by an urgent care unit.

Last week it was revealed plans were in place for overnight closure at the hospital to begin from September next year.

Romford’s MP Andrew Rosindell has said he will be following the situation closely to ensure Havering residents are not adversely affected by the five-year plan.

“We accept the decision has been made to close King George but it is now the NHS trust’s responsibility to demonstrate that by making this change, patients in Havering will not be adversely affected,” he said.

“The trust needs to show Queen’s will have the capacity to cope with the increased numbers through the door.”

But inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) are believed to have been on site again this week, with a new report expected soon.

A BHRUT spokesman was optimistic that the trust would be out of special measures well before 2019.

Chief executive Matthew Hopkins said: “We were very pleased to welcome our CQC colleagues when they came in to re-inspect our hospitals recently. I hope they recognise the many improvements we have made to patient care across our hospitals and look forward to receiving their report.”