Edwin Poots says move will stop people abusing principle of free healthcare but nursing union have called the idea unfeasible

Northern Ireland's health minister has warned that he is considering charging patients who turn up drunk or high on drugs in the region's A&E hospital departments.

Edwin Poots has claimed missed targets for treating A&E patients are partly due to an influx of people into these departments who are intoxicated and in some cases violent.

Responding to figures showing that from April and June this year, targets for treating patients were missed 700 times in local hospitals, the Democratic Unionist minister said: "The United Kingdom has a great principle of healthcare, free at the point of need to all who need it, irrespective of their ability to pay for it.

"I think it is a wonderful principle but I think on occasions it is abused and we sometimes need to look at how we can make sure that abuse doesn't take place."

Poots has floated the possibility of people paying for emergency care if alcohol or drugs contributed to their need for hospital treatment. "The principle of it has merit. The implementation of it is more challenging. We need to ensure that people who need medical care are not put off receiving that medical care."

But the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has raised objections to the idea, which they said was unfeasible. The RCN's regional spokesperson Roisin Devlin said: "The NHS has a duty to care for all, and the principle is that it's free at the point of care.

"My concern would be where the line would be drawn and who would decide which patients should be charged. It's not something that emergency nurses would be keen to do."

Patricia McKeown of health union Unison said the health minister's suggestion was more to do with "political dogma" than a means of tackling the crisis in local hospitals.

Meanwhile, Poots's cabinet colleague in the regional devolved government, the justice minister David Ford, has also raised the possibility of fining people who are drunk and disorderly at music concerts in Northern Ireland.

Ahead of the Belsonic music festival in Belfast this coming weekend, Ford warned that fans could face court fines of up to £250 for being drunk in public – along with fixed penalties of between £40 to £80.

Last January there was a brief but serious crisis in emergency healthcare after hundreds of young fans were treated by paramedics outside the Odyssey centre on the banks of the river Lagan in Belfast. Many of them fell ill as a result of drink and drug intake.

Ford said: "I want to see everyone attending this year's summer festivals enjoying the music and having a good time. Concertgoers should remember that being drunk in a public place can attract a court fine of up to £250, with the potential for a criminal record.

"Police will also be monitoring the transport of people to and from these events, taking corrective action where necessary."