An external review into the safety of A&E departments at King George Hospital and Queen’s Hospital is starting this week.

Redbridge, Havering and Barking and Dagenham Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) ordered the review following “long-standing” concerns about emergency care at the hospitals.

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: “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.

“We will identify any actions required to improve the quality and safety of A&E services for local people.”

Averil Dongworth, chief executive of Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT), 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.”