28 August 2025
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine Northern Ireland says the Emergency Care system in the country is in a ‘critical condition’ following the release of the latest A&E performance data.
The statistics, released today (28 August 2025) by the Department of Health, covers from 1 April to 30 June 2025.
They reveal that almost one in five patients (33,938) waited 12 hours or more to be admitted, transferred, or discharged from major Northern Ireland EDs during the first quarter of 2025/26.
That’s the worst first quarter performance since records began in 2011.
And shockingly, in June alone, more than five hundred (533) patients had to wait more than TWO DAYS (57 hours) before a ward bed could be found for them.
The data also shows the first quarter of 2025/26:
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Was the worst three months on record for four-hour performance, with just 33.3% of patients treated, admitted or discharged within this time. Massively lower than the standard of 95%.
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The number of people waiting 12 hours or more in a major Emergency Department (Type 1) for this quarter (33,938) was three times the number for the same quarter in 2019/20 (9,788)
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Alarmingly, the first half of 2025 saw 66,252 people waiting 12 hours or more, almost the same number when compared to the whole of 2021 (67,553)
It comes after the Northern Ireland Executive held a series of meeting with health officials, including representatives from RCEM, earlier this year in preparation for the winter ahead, pledging to publish its plan “in the summer“.
Dr Michael Perry, Vice President of RCEM Northern Ireland, said: “I am not exaggerating when I say this is one of the most worrying sets of data that I have seen.
“Tens of thousands of people endured a 12-hour wait in just three months, with hundreds ending up waiting more than two whole days in a department which was designed to get people in and out in just four hours.
“Mums, dads, grandparents – many of whom will be vulnerable, left waiting hours often on trolleys in corridors through no fault of their own.
“Emergency Departments in Northern Ireland are in critical condition.
“We know the Health Minister is more than aware of the scale of the problem but the Executive must work together to tackle this unacceptable and dangerous situation.
“If it doesn’t, I fear what our patients, our members, and our colleagues will face this winter. Because I am not sure how much more we can take.”
The BMA previously called for urgent action to address what it described as the “collapsing health service in Northern Ireland” – passing a motion at a consultants’ conference in June this year.