Confidential documents seen by this newspaper show that the departments at both the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn could be closed.

This would leave Norfolk and Norwich’s A&E to cover the entire county.

Talks over the future of the QEH’s emergency and intensive care departments were first revealed by the EDP earlier this month.

Discussions are being held over the future of A&E at both the JPH and the QEH (Image: Google Maps)

It has now emerged that the same discussions are being held over the future of the same units at the JPH.

Both the QEH and the Paget are due to be rebuilt within the next decade as part of a £2.8 billion project, and officials have been reviewing which services each hospital will offer.

However, the possibility that both might lose their A&E units has prompted alarm in both towns.

Concerns have also been raised about the plans resulting in a "massive pile-on" at the Norfolk and Norwich, which would be left to shoulder the burden of the county's emergency care.

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (Image: Archant)

The discussions have provoked a furious response from MPs of the towns, who have called on the group to keep their A&E units open. 

They have also urged the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group, which runs the county’s three hospitals, to come clean about their plans.

The group has insisted the documents are preliminary and that no final decisions have been made.

They have said that people will continue to have access to urgent and emergency care at both the QEH and JPH 24 hours a day.

However, this does not specifically address whether the A&E unit will remain open.

When asked directly whether the two hospitals would keep their A&Es, the group refused to rule out their loss, saying it had "not decided what that future model will look like at either hospital".

The discussions over the future of the three hospitals emerged in confidential documents produced by the group and seen by this newspaper.

They contain three options for the emergency healthcare in Norfolk.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn (Image: QEH)

Just one would retain A&E provision at all three sites in their current form.

The most drastic option would axe the units at the JPH........

© Norwich Evening News