Concern as figures reveal consultant staffing 'collapses' at Northern Ireland's emergency departments at the weekend
Data from Northern Ireland health trusts shows that consultant cover in accident and emergency departments drops significantly across the province at weekends – prompting a call for more consistent staffing.
Figures obtained by the News Letter show that in some acute hospitals the number of consultants on shift more than halves on Saturdays and Sundays compared to weekdays. All of the trusts which responded to queries on A&E consultant cover show a significant drop in staffing at weekends.
These include major emergency departments (EDs) at the Royal Victoria, Mater, Ulster, Causeway and Antrim Area hospitals.
The DUP says trusts must explain how they will ensure more consistent seven-day staffing – and the TUV has criticised the “collapse” in weekend cover, pointing out that people are no less likely to suffer serious illness or injury on a weekend.
The Department of Health says it is an “operational matter” for heath trusts.
The figures cover the first week of winter – from 1 - 7 December, as winter began and flu cases surged.
They show that Causeway hospital in Coleraine had two consultants on shift each weekday between 9-5pm, one between 5-10pm and a consultant on call after 10pm. However, cover plummets at the weekend – with just one ED consultant on shift between 8am-2pm – and one on call “post 2pm”.
The Northern Trust says it plans to increase workforce at Causeway with an additional two consultants starting in early 2026 which will extend weekend cover to full days.
The trust’s other main ED in Antrim follows a similar pattern. Staffing was consistent throughout the week – three consultants were on shift between 8-5pm and two between 5-10pm – with one on call after 10pm. At the weekend, there was just one consultant between 8am-8pm – and one on call after 8pm.
TUV leader Jim Allister said weekday consultant cover is “already modest” at Causeway - yet at weekends “it collapses to a single consultant on site for part of the day with reliance thereafter on on-call arrangements”.
The North Antrim MP added: “At Antrim Area Hospital the pattern is the same with minimal weekend cover even though it serves as a major emergency hub for a wide rural area.
“People are no less likely to suffer serious illness or injury on a Saturday than on a Tuesday. Indeed, weekends are often the time when more people require help in our hospitals.
“The Northern Trust points to future recruitment in 2026 but patients need care now. Stormont has presided over years of failed workforce planning and local communities are paying the price. Until consultant-led emergency care is properly resourced seven days a week, these failings will continue to put patients and staff under intolerable strain”.
Diane Dodds, who sits on Stormont’s health committee, says the figures “confirm what staff and patients already experience - that emergency pressures don’t ease at weekends, yet consultant cover often drops sharply.
“Senior clinical decision-making is vital to safe care, and Trusts must explain how they will ensure more consistent seven-day staffing”, she said.
It is a similar picture in emergency departments in other areas.
At Belfast Trust’s Royal Victoria Hospital – NI’s main emergency hospital – the ED was staffed by five consultants on each of two shifts between 8am and 6pm, and at least two between 6pm and midnight.
However, on the weekend between 8am and 11pm there were only two consultants in the department at any one time – with two on call.
At the RVH Children’s hospital, there were usually either two or three consultants on shift during the day and one in the evening. But at the weekend, there was only one consultant between 2pm and midnight, and one on call after midnight.
At the Mater in Belfast, there were at least two consultants on weekdays, and sometimes one in the evening, with another on call. At weekends there was only one on site between 8am and 5pm, with another on call.
The Ulster Hospital – the South Eastern Trust’s only 7 day ED – has consultants on shift between 8am and 11pm. On the first week of this month, it had an average of four on shift at any given time during the week, with just 2 or 3 at weekends.
The Southern Trust declined to give any figures, and the Western Trust – which runs Londonderry’s busy Altnagelvin ED and the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen – is yet to respond.