The Hands Off Our Hospital campaign has been launched to fight plans under a review by Health for North East London to close the accident and emergency unit and labour ward at King George Hospital, Goodmayes.

The Recorder has been joined by politicians from all parties, community leaders and residents in opposing the proposals which we believe would be detrimental to the health of the people of Redbridge.

In this section you will find up-to-date details of campaign meetings and rallies along with news stories relating to the proposals.

Accident and emergency:

Health for North East London (HFNEL) is recommending King George Hospital provides 24/7 urgent care services with short stay assessment facilities and is developed into a “centre of excellence” for planned care, such as knee and hip surgery.

But its A&E will go under the proposals.

It is forecast Queen's Hospital, Romford, will gain an extra 329 beds by 2017 to deal with the shift in demand, while King George will lose 336 beds in the same time period.

Clinicians agreed with concerns from families and have recommended treating more children at dedicated units at all local A&E hospitals, while only the most seriously ill children would be cared for in a specialist unit at Queen's Hospital or The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.

Dr Hector Spiteri, GP and director of Seven Kings Polysystem, said: “Any changes would be led and overseen by GPs and if the proposals are approved no changes would take place until clinicians were satisfied that they were able to deliver the highest quality of care possible.”

Births would no longer take place at King George Hospital under the plans, but care during pregnancy and after birth will remain.

It is projected that King George would be home to 3,099 births by 2017 without the closure of its labour ward. Queen's Hospital will bear the brunt of the shift in demand, with an extra 2,761 births.

Under the proposals, Queen's Hospital will develop a new midwife-led birthing unit alongside its current doctor-led labour ward.

Whipps Cross Hospital, Leytonstone, and Newham Hospital will expand their midwife-led units and increase capacity in their doctor-led units.

Dr Anthony Falconer, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “We agree these changes should go ahead without delay, however we have also outlined the need to address workforce issues and closely monitor the quality and demand for services should these proposals go ahead.”