THE NEW health secretary has said he cannot rule out closing A&E departments, just days after he said that current closure plans would be shelved.

Plans to shut Redbridge's only A&E – at King George Hospital in Ilford – attracted huge controversy when it was first proposed by NHS London last year.

Conservative MP Andrew Lansley told BBC London that, while existing plans to 'force' the closure of emergency wards would be scrapped, the government would not rule out closing some A&Es to save money and that health trusts were being given a challenge to make savings.

Mr Lansley said: "I can't rule out change and I can't rule out A&E closures.

"We are going to stop the forced closure of A&E departments.

"I am saying to the clinical community in London, to the GP community in London and to the patients and the public, yes, look at all this work that's been done, pick out the good things.

"I'm going to challenge the GP, local authority and patient communities to put together their own timetable for developing local services."

Residents were asked for their views on the plans in during a 16-week public consultation, which ended in March.

The raw data from the survey is now with polling group Ipsos-MORI, who are due to publish a report sometime before the end of the summer.