Inspectors assess safety of King George and Queen’s Hospital A&Es

The safety of King George and Queen’s Hospital A&E departments will be assessed in an external clinical review, the local GP group has announced.

The decision by the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) follows “long-standing concerns” about emergency care at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT), with patient safety highlighted as at risk due to permanent medical staffing issues.

It comes less than a month after a Care Quality Commission report yet again found the troubled A&E at Queen’s Hospital, in Romford, was failing standards.

The better-performing emergency department at King George Hospital, in Barley Lane, Goodmayes, is set for the axe in 2015.

Inspectors will be visiting both departments this week and delivering their report later this month with support from NHS England and the NHS Trust Development Authority.

Dr Jitendra Kakad, clinical director of Havering CCG, said on behalf of the three CCGs: “As GPs and commissioners of local health services, patient safety is our number one priority. That’s why we have asked the review team to report their findings as quickly as possible.”

Averil Dongworth, chief executive of the hospital trust, has welcomed the external review.

She said: “It is really important that both staff and management at the Trust and CCGs respond quickly and in partnership to the pressure on our local A&Es. This process will help ensure services remain safe for local people in the future.”