The two hospitals serving Barking and Dagenham are set to receive millions of pounds to avert a winter health crisis.

Queen’s in Romford and King George in Goodmayes expect to get around £4million in winter pressure funding from the government. The cash will be spent partly on extra A&E capacity and is a response to “unprecedented demand” for NHS services.

Nationally the government has pledged £700m, announcing on Friday a £300m pot to pay for more bed space and staff.

Overall, it is 75 per cent more than the system received last year – but the share going to Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT), which runs Queen’s and King George, has fallen.

In 2013, £7m was injected into the hospitals’ busy A&E departments.

BHRUT deputy chief executive Steve Russell said: “Last year during the winter period, more than 48,000 attendances were recorded at King George and Queen’s hospitals’ emergency departments – an average of 533 a day across both sites.”

He added the money would pay for extra capacity in A&E, the trust’s Frail Older Persons Advisory and Liaison Service (FOPAL), support for care delivered at home, and initiatives aimed at reducing patients’ length of stay.

Trusts nationwide have struggled to meet a government target of seeing 95pc of A&E patients within four hours, but BHRUT’s performance has been especially poor recently. Just 80.9pc were treated, discharged or admitted within the timescale last month.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “The NHS is under unprecedented demand, with a million more visits to A&E each year compared to 2010.” He added: “We are boosting frontline services and expect the NHS to ensure strong performance is delivered locally.”