Queen’s Hospital Saw their Busiest December On Record.

Hospitals in east London saw their “busiest December ever” last month, writes local democracy reporter Sebastian Mann.

The last month of 2025 was the third busiest on record for the NHS trust overseeing Queen’s Hospital in Romford and King George Hospital in Ilford.

Some 30,851 patients came through their doors, working out at an average of 995 per day.

Both hospitals are overseen by the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust (BHRUT).

A recent BHRUT report revealed the majority are attending the hospital from nursing and care homes.

The extraordinarily high volume of patients has meant some A&E patients are “unfortunately receiving care in our corridors,” the report said.

“While this is not ideal, we would rather bring patients into hospital to be treated than have them wait outside in ambulances.”

In November, the trust reported its busiest October ever for the A&E departments at the two hospitals.

The department in Queen’s is currently seeing more than double the 325-patient maximum it was designed to accommodate.

In January last year, the trust launched a campaign to secure £35million to rebuild the department.

The plans are due before BHRUT’s board of directors and chief executive Matthew Trainer has said he is “confident” it will receive the funding.

Redesigning the department will make it fit for capacity and would “eradicate” corridor care, he said earlier this month.

In the meantime, the trust will need to deal with an impending strike in the pathology and clinical engineering departments over accusations of bullying and concerns about outsourcing.

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