Enfield could soon be left without an A&E department after reports North Middlesex Hospital could be forced to shut theirs down.

The Edmonton hospital has received an unprecedented warning from the General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates doctors, which would make North Mid the first ever hospital to be forced to close its emergency department on safety grounds.

North Mid is the only hospital in Enfield with an A&E department, after Chase Farm Hospital controversially closed its department in 2012, and sees around 500 patients every day.

In private NHS papers revealed by the Guardian, it says “junior staff are being left in charge of the emergency department, highlighting a probable risk to patients”.

It was also revealed only two out of 26 junior doctors in training in North Mid’s A&E have any previous experience in an emergency department.

If improvements are not seen by the end of the month, all junior doctors could be removed from A&E by the GMC on safety grounds, which would leave it so under staffed it would be at real risk of closing.

North Mid has rejected the claims junior doctors were left in charge.

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, said: “We are extremely concerned about the standards of training and support for trainee doctors in the emergency department of this hospital. Without adequate support and supervision there is a serious risk that their patients are being put at risk.

“Together with Health Education England we have set out what the trust must do to put matters right and together we will monitor the situation. Ultimately we will not allow postgraduate training to continue in this department if the appropriate action is not taken.

“There are now signs that the NHS at local level is taking this matter seriously but we expect action on the ground including the employment of additional more senior staff to make sure that patients receive safe and effective care and that the doctors in training receive the support and supervision they need.”

In April, North Mid failed a surprise inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which found there were delays in initial assessment and in the time it took to move patients to specialist wards, while there were not enough doctors and consultants with suitable levels of knowledge or expertise.

A&Es are expected to see, treat and discharge 95 per cent of patients within four hours, however earlier this year the figure was as low as 66 per cent for North Middlesex, and was only at 72 per cent according to figures released last month.

Currently North Mid has only seven out of 15 emergency department consultants in post, and seven out of 13 more senior emergency doctors.

In February, the Enfield Independent exclusively revealed a patient died after having to wait an “unacceptable” amount of time to be seen by North Mid’s casualty department in December, despite being regularly checked by hospital staff.

A statement from North Middlesex University Hospital said they will do everything they can to meet the GMC's demands by the end of June.

It said: “Our trust accepts that we are facing a number of issues in our A&E department, particularly around medical staffing.

"We are working hard with our NHS partners to address these issues and, in particular, to recruit additional middle grade and consultant A&E doctors. We are looking at a number of short term and longer term initiatives to resolve the staffing issues and  to relieve pressure on the A&E.

"Our hardworking A&E staff continue to provide a safe service and we repudiate any accusation that junior doctors have been left in charge of the department. There is always at least one, if not more, consultants or middle grade doctors in attendance in the department at all times.

"We apologise to patients who are have to wait for longer than we would like to be seen, treated and admitted, or discharged. But our waiting time performance is now starting to improve and our priority remains to provide our local communities with a fully functioning, safe and effective A&E service.”

Healthwatch Enfield, the local watchdog of health and social care services, also said it hoped to see rapid improvement in the hospital very soon.

Chief Exec Patricia Mecinska said: "We hope that partners and stakeholders will provide North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust with resources enabling the Trust to continue fulfilling the pivotal role it plays within Enfield".

Politicians have also been having their say on the crisis.

Kate Osamor, MP for Edmonton, said: "I was extremely saddened and concerned to hear the news.

"I have written a joint letter with Joan Ryan to the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, calling for him to urgently intervene to ensure that the hospital can fulfil its duty of caring for its patients.

"We are also calling for the early release of the findings of an inspection of the emergency department undertaken by personnel from the Care Quality Commission watchdog in April.

"The government are failing our NHS, and more must be done to protect our patients and our doctors.”