Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has assured MPs no move will be made to close King George Hospital’s A&E until it is safe.

Ilford North MP Lee Scott grilled Mr Hunt during a debate on changes to health services in London in the House of Commons last week.

He urged the secretary of state for health to “look again” at plans for Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT).

Mr Scott added: “The difficulties that Queen’s Hospital has had simply meant that, in its own admission, it would not be able to cope without an A&E at King George Hospital for many years to come.”

Improvements were ordered by the Care Quality Commission at Queen’s Hospital after an inspection earlier this year found the emergency department was failing standards of care, respect and staffing.

King George Hospital’s A&E is set to close in 2015 despite the continuing problems.

Speaking in Parliament, Mr Hunt said Mr Scott had raised the issue “consistently”, adding: “I will go back and make absolutely certain that no changes will be made until it is certain that they are clinically safe.”