Kingston Hospital is set to refurbish and expand its accident and emergency department four years after it was threatened with the prospect of closure.

The hospital has applied for permission to remodel and refurbish the inside of the casualty ward with a small new building at the back of the administration area.

Its A+E and maternity ward were part of the Better Services Better Value consultation, seeking to make £65m savings while improving services, along with three others across south west London from 2010 until May 2012.

The review eventually concluded St Helier should lose its A+E and maternity but was scrapped earlier this year after a Save St Helier campaign.

Kingston Hospital’s operational plan, relased in March, said an expansion would “enable the trust to respond to any future changes to the configuration of services in the local health economy”.

The papers also forecast an increase in A&E visitors.

A total of 112,083 visited in the 2013/2014 financial year, with 114,512 expected in 2014/2015.