From that Wednesday anyone seeking treatment for serious illness or injury will need to go to casualty departments in Watford or Luton.

Since early February West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust has been transferring services in preparation for the move.

Emergency care in Hemel Hempstead will be taken over by the GP-run urgent care centre (UCC), which is predicted to treat 65 per cent of those currently visiting A&E.

The UCC has been running alongside A&E since October and in its first three months 6,346 people were treated there.

The centre is being run by the hospital trust in partnership with Herts Urgent Care, which is also responsible for out-of-hours GP services across the county.

Mark Cockerton, chief executive at Herts Urgent Care, said the UCC would be the first of eight across Hertfordshire.

"It has been a real success," he said.

"When you get all eight running in Herts I think it will be a significant improvement to the way patients access urgent care.

"It's the way urgent care services will be provided in the future."

Redundant parts of the hospital site will be mothballed and prepared for sell-off.

A new health centre offering GP services alongside the UCC is due to open in the summer.

This is despite a campaign by family doctors against the centre, which they say will spell closure for existing surgeries and offer worse care for patients.

In Hemel Hempstead 6,273 signatures have been collected against the health centre, which could be run by a private company.

Across Beds and Herts the total number of signatures against such centres – which offer walk-in services for 12 hours every day - is almost 93,000.

GP Mark Brownfield, of The Nap surgery in Kings Langley, said: "Unfortunately these health centres are still going ahead."

In a statement West Herts Primary Care Trust (PCT) said: "The PCT is in the final stages of procuring a new GP-led health centre in Hemel Hempstead as part of our plans to extend access to GP care and our wider programme to improve local services."

Meanwhile, it has emerged that land at Breakspear Way is one of three sites being considered by health chiefs for the promised new 'local general hospital', expected in three to five years.

The facility will include the urgent care centre, the GP health centre as well as outpatient services and diagnostic facilities.

A final decision on the site is expected from the PCT in March.