Emergency medicine consultants have warned that staffing shortages in emergency departments from July will lead to longer waits for patients and could force some EDs to stop providing a 24-hour service.

Their representative body has claimed that Ireland's 30 EDs are 'teetering on the edge of total collapse.'

The Irish Association for Emergency Medicine (IAEM) says it recently warned of an expected worsening of the current medical staffing levels in EDs, and evidence from around the country indicated that staffing deficits will worsen get worse from July.

This, the IAEM says, will lead to inevitable cuts in services and more prolonged waits for patients.

"It is likely that in Dublin not all EDs will be able to remain open 24/7, with some operating only during limited hours. Clearly, in more rural areas where EDs are more widely dispersed, the inability to remain open 24/7 is likely to cause significant disruption to the healthcare system and its hospitals and greatly increase the risks for patients."

The emergency medicine consultants say most EDs have seen a recent worsening of overcrowding.

"Although Health Minister, James Reilly promised that the Special Delivery Unit would be specifically tasked with abolishing overcrowding as a priority and that ED overcrowding would be eradicated by the end of 2012, there has been a complete failure to resolve this situation which is so risky for patients."

It is now clear that the promises by the Minister for Health have not been kept and appear little more than soundbites, the IAEM says.

It says ED overcrowding is a cause for national concern and requires immediate action.

Groundhog day for our failing health system