IF Whipps Cross was to close, or change dramatically, the public would be the first to know. That is the promise from the chairman of the hospital, Stephen Jacobs OBE.

The assurances that nothing will happen to the hospital without the public being involved follows the controversial claims by Woodford Green MP, Iain Duncan Smith, that Whipps Cross could close as mounting debts push the hospital into crisis.

In a letter to the Guardian, which we have printed in full on our letters page, Mr Jacobs maintains: "If there are any plans to change significantly what we do at Whipps Cross, or discussions take place about its future, then you can be assured that these would involve local people and they would find out first from us."

The MP also came under fire from a fellow Parliamentarian whose constituents also use the Leytonstone hospital.

Neil Gerrard, MP for Walthamstow said: "A claim like this scares people. I have had residents writing to me in a panic asking me what is going on. Is the hospital set to close?

"In a sense you could say that anything is going to close or change. Several years ago I remember there was talk of restructuring local government in London, cutting the 32 boroughs down to nine super-boroughs. The idea had no legs.

"Something like this may have been on a piece of paper somewhere, at sometime, but that is the case with all large scale organisations. The reality is more important."

But Mr Duncan Smith is standing by his claim.

He said: "I suspect the previous SHA threatened the trust with this option if it did not bring its finances back under control."