Queen's Hospital in Romford gets £42.1m to rebuild its A&E, the biggest of 14 schemes in the national winter fund. What changes, and what is not yet known.

The A&E at Queen’s Hospital in Romford is to be rebuilt with £42.1 million of government money. It is the largest single scheme in a £140 million winter fund for urgent care that the Department of Health and Social Care announced on Sunday 18 October.

The hospital trust called it “a landmark moment” in its own announcement the same day. It says it campaigned for the money for 22 months.

The department opened with the hospital in 2006 and was built for about 325 patients a day. The trust says it now regularly sees more than double that.

What the £42 million pays for

The trust’s plans for the adult A&E include:

  • a shorter route in: patients now walk 335 steps from the Queen’s entrance to adult A&E, and that falls to 50
  • dedicated waiting areas, which the department does not have today
  • better lines of sight so staff can watch patients
  • a better flow of patients through the department
  • more natural light

For the children’s A&E, the trust plans to:

  • remove the corridor between the children’s A&E and the assessment area, making one space
  • add a dedicated resuscitation area
  • improve space for children who need somewhere calm to decompress

It also plans to work with UCL Partners on a digital system for the new department.

The trust is blunt about the department as it stands. It describes a “rabbit warren layout” that patients struggle to find their way round. It also says its rapid assessment area, RAFT, “is being used inappropriately due to overcrowding elsewhere”.

An illustration of the planned children's A&E waiting area at Queen's Hospital, with clinicians talking to young children and their families.
The trust's illustration of the planned children's A&E waiting area. Image: Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust

Bigger than any other scheme in the fund

The government’s list has 14 funded schemes across England. Queen’s is the only one in London that is a single hospital; the other London scheme is £18.4 million for digital check-in and triage systems across the capital’s emergency departments. At £42.1 million, Queen’s alone takes about 30% of the money on the list.

Bar chart of the 14 urgent care schemes funded on 18 October 2026, in £ million: Queen's Hospital, Romford 42.1; London A&E digital systems 18.4; Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham 12.9; Shrewsbury ambulance hub 12; James Paget, Gorleston 10; Addenbrooke's, Cambridge 7.7; Airedale General 6.76; East Midlands Ambulance Service 6.35; Basildon Hospital 6; Norfolk and Norwich 4.86; Royal Albert Edward, Wigan 4.7; Queen Elizabeth, King's Lynn 3.9; Lister Hospital, Stevenage 2; North Tees 1.
The 14 urgent care schemes in the government's 18 October announcement. Source: Department of Health and Social Care. Chart by Romford Today
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Some of the other amounts are spread over two to four years; the government’s table gives Queen’s as a single sum of £42.1 million.

How busy the A&E is now

NHS England publishes A&E figures by trust, not by hospital. The trust, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals, runs two major A&Es, at Queen’s and at King George Hospital in Goodmayes. Its figures for September 2026, from the NHS England monthly data, show:

September 2026 The trust England
Attendances at its major A&Es 14,321 1,475,440
Seen within four hours at major A&Es 62.9% 60.4%
Seen within four hours, all A&E types 81.7% 74.4%
Waited 12 hours or more from the decision to admit 568 50,582

So the trust did slightly better than England as a whole in September. But 568 patients waited half a day or more for a bed after doctors had decided to admit them.

When will work start?

Neither the trust nor the government has given a start date, a finish date or a contractor. The trust’s interim chief executive, Fiona Wheeler, said: “We’re looking forward to getting the spades in the ground and transforming our A&E into one we can be proud of.”

She called it “a landmark moment for our residents and our staff”. She said the money would help “reduce waiting times and the need for corridor care” and “put an end to staff working in cramped conditions”.

Julia Lopez, the MP for Hornchurch and Upminster, welcomed the funding on 22 October. She said she had raised the need for investment with the Health Secretary in the Commons, and would share updates on the building timetable when they are confirmed.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes yet. The A&E at Queen’s, on Rom Valley Way, RM7 0AG, works as it does now until building starts. No date has been given.
  • You can tell the trust what you think. It asks for thoughts and feedback on the new A&E by email to BHRUT.NewQueensAandE@nhs.net.
  • For anything that is not an emergency, NHS 111 and local pharmacies can help. The government’s announcement also points to an expanded Pharmacy First scheme and extra GP appointments in the evenings and at weekends this winter.

We will add the start date and the building timetable when the trust publishes them. For Gallows Corner and other travel to the hospital, see our Romford roadworks page.

Sources