PEOPLE in need of life-saving care may have to travel further to get it from 2019.

The Secretary of State for Health made the decision to close King George Hospital’s A&E department in Goodmayes back in 2011, but only when services at Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone and Queen’s in Romford could cope.

Health bosses wanted to close the A&E overnight in the run up to shutting the doors for good in 2019, but those plans were dropped in January.

This week the executive lead for the North East London Sustainability & Transformation Plan has revealed the emergency department will be placed with an “urgent care centre”.

Under the plans, the new 24-hour centre will treat “many of the types of cases dealt with by King George A&E”, but patients in need of a “full emergency medical team” will be taken straight to A&E at either Queen’s or Whipps Cross.

A statement from STP bosses reads: “Run by GPs and nurses, and open 24/7, the centre will benefit from many improvements, including more space and access to investigations such as blood tests and X-rays.

“It will be able to treat many of the types of cases dealt with by the existing A&E unit and be supported by the 111 and out-of-hours GP service, which is also being developed to provide a modern integrated urgent care service.

“The only difference will be that patients who call 999 and need treatment by a full emergency medical team will be taken by ambulance straight to a nearby larger unit, such as those at Queen’s, Whipps Cross or Newham hospitals.”

Medical director of Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust (BHRUT) Nadeem Moghal and Barts Health chief medical officer Alistair Chesser added: “Experience elsewhere demonstrates most patients can safely be treated in an Urgent care centre.

“This is beneficial as waiting times are usually significantly shorter.

“Those patients who have really complex care needs, such as a broken hip or severe breathing difficulties, are best treated in an emergency department with a full range of specialist staff, even if it means travelling slightly further.”

NHS bosses hope to have the urgent care centre up and running by 2019 but says it will not shut King George’s A&E until “all the necessary resources are in place”.

That means it could be delayed until £500 million planned improvements at Whipps Cross go ahead.

In response to the news Ilford North MP Wes Streeting and Redbridge Conservative leader Cllr Paul Canal have launched an enquiry into the changes at the hospital in Barley Lane.

The working group will hear evidence and go on several site visits to ensure changes are made in the public interest.

Chairman Streeting said: “The closure of the A&E at King George Hospital has been on the cards for some years now, but it is clear that the NHS has been unable to work to the plan agreed in 2011 because of the immense pressures on NHS services.

“Our cross-party inquiry will conduct an in-depth look at the pressures on local A&E services, examine what more can be done to improve patient outcomes and look at whether the plans to reconfigure services stand up to scrutiny.

“Local residents are understandably concerned about the changes and their impact on local NHS services, which is why we’ve come together across the political divide to work together in the public interest.”

North East London Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) spokesman responded: “We welcome the opportunity to work together with the group to assure local people that safe and sustainable health services will continue to be provided now and in the future.”