Senior emergency doctors in Northern Ireland have warned that hospital emergency departments are already under severe strain and are ill-prepared for winter. A survey by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine found that all eight clinical leads who responded described current pressure as high or very high, with seven saying they were very or extremely worried about the coming months. Conditions were reported to be worse than at the same time last year.

Dr Michael Perry, RCEM Northern Ireland Vice President, said emergency departments have been in a state of perpetual crisis, with patients waiting more than half a day and corridor care becoming normal. He urged politicians to heed the warnings ahead of what colleagues fear will be an 'utterly brutal winter'.

The college has asked the Northern Ireland Executive to take three immediate steps: free up beds by tackling delayed discharges, extend opening hours for services involved in discharges, and maintain the two-hour ambulance patient handover provision rather than reducing it to 45 minutes.

The Northern Ireland findings are part of a UK-wide survey of 163 emergency department clinical leads. Across the UK, 91% were very or extremely concerned about winter pressures, only 3% felt well prepared, and 67% described their departments as unsafe. RCEM President Dr Ian Higginson called the situation disgraceful and said it should not have been allowed to deteriorate so far.

Overcrowding in emergency departments is linked to pressures elsewhere in hospitals, particularly when patients who are medically fit to leave remain in beds. This reduces capacity to admit new patients and prolongs waits in emergency departments, including at Antrim Area Hospital.

The college says action cannot wait until winter peaks. It wants changes across the wider hospital system now to improve patient safety and dignity.