Improvement works to the critical care departments at both Queen’s and King George hospitals are scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

As part of a 11.5m investment, Queen’s Hospital in Romford will see a modern critical care unit built on the fourth floor.

The space, which was previously used for storage, will become a 15-bed unit with the capacity to increase to 25 beds if necessary.

At King George Hospital in Ilford, the existing unit is being reconfigured and modernised.

Four beds will be added using space which was previously a corridor of management offices, making it a 12-bed unit.

The additional beds can become full isolation rooms, while the other eight are in pairs and can be closed off with sliding doors.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trusts' (BHRUT) director of clinical service reconfiguration, Vikki Butler, said: “We’ve used lessons that we’ve learned during the pandemic in our design on the new unit.

“There is better use of space and improved ventilation, giving us lots more options when it comes to infection control, and a much better experience for our patients.”