Medical disclaimer
The single most important page on A&E Wait Time. Please read it before relying on any information on this site. Read alongside our terms of service and methodology.
In short
A&E Wait Time is an independent UK aggregator of publicly published NHS A&E waiting-time data. We are not a healthcare provider. We do not provide medical advice. We do not triage individual patients. We have no clinical relationship with you. The information we publish is for general information only and must never be relied upon as a basis for any clinical decision.
Not medical advice
Nothing on A&E Wait Time — including hospital pages, region pages, guides, FAQs, methodology, blog posts, social-media content, or replies to email enquiries — constitutes medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The content is provided for general information only and is not a substitute for the advice of a qualified healthcare professional.
Always seek the advice of your GP, A&E clinician, NHS 111 or another qualified health provider with any questions you have about a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read on A&E Wait Time.
Not NHS-affiliated
A&E Wait Time is independently operated. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by:
The NHS or NHS Digital. We do not represent the National Health Service.
NHS England. We are not part of, or contracted to, NHS England.
NHS Scotland, NHS Wales or HSC Northern Ireland. We are not part of, or contracted to, any of the devolved-nation health services.
Any individual NHS Trust, ICB or health board. Listing a hospital or trust on this site does not imply any partnership.
The Department of Health and Social Care. We have no relationship with DHSC.
We use NHS open data under the relevant Open Government Licence with attribution displayed in the site footer. That attribution does not constitute endorsement.
Not staffed by clinicians
No-one on the A&E Wait Time editorial team is a registered medical professional under the Medical Act 1983, the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001, or the Health and Social Work Professions Order 2001. No GMC, NMC or HCPC-registered professional reviews wait-time figures, hospital pages or any other content on this site for clinical accuracy.
If a verifiable, registered UK clinician ever joins or formally reviews this site, we will publish their full name, registration number and the dated content they have signed off — and not before. See our editorial team page for who actually does run the site.
Not a triage tool
A&E Wait Time is a signposting tool, not a triage tool. We cannot tell you:
Whether you need A&E. Only a clinician (or you, with their input) can decide this. If unsure, call NHS 111.
Which hospital is best for your specific condition. Specialist services (stroke, major trauma, paediatrics, mental-health) are concentrated at particular trusts. Wait-time alone is not the right basis for choosing where to go.
Your individual queue position once you arrive. A&E uses a triage system. Your wait will depend on the severity of your condition, not arrival order.
When a wait might change. Demand can spike or fall in minutes. Live figures are best-effort snapshots, not predictions.
About the wait-time figures
Every wait-time figure on A&E Wait Time carries a freshness badge that reflects the publication time of the underlying NHS source — not the time the page was rendered. Even with that labelling, the figures must be understood as:
Averages, not your wait. Trusts publish different metrics — current wait, average wait, banded wait, patients-waiting count. Whatever the metric, your individual wait will depend on your triage category and current demand.
May lag the live situation. Trusts refresh their public pages on their own cadence. Even a ‘Live’ figure can be a few minutes out of date by the time you read it — emergency departments fluctuate minute-by-minute.
Subject to source error. We can only be as accurate as the source. The trust’s own page can contain errors and our pipeline can contain bugs. We correct ours when we are told.
Never a reason to delay 999. If you may be having a stroke, heart attack, or other life-threatening event, call 999 immediately. Do not look at a wait time first.
For full transparency on every source we use, see our methodology page.
When to call 999 vs NHS 111
The NHS guidance below is reproduced for convenience and is not our advice. Always check nhs.uk for the current authoritative version.
Call 999 (life-threatening). Signs of a heart attack or stroke; severe difficulty breathing; heavy bleeding that will not stop; severe burns; a seizure that is not stopping; loss of consciousness; severe allergic reaction; suspected sepsis; serious injury after an accident; or any condition you believe may be life-threatening.
Call NHS 111 (urgent but not life-threatening). You need medical help fast but it is not a 999 emergency; you do not know who to call or what to do; you think you need A&E or another NHS urgent care service; you need health information or reassurance about what to do next.
Do not delay either call to look at a wait time. {SITE.name} is built to help you choose between routine options — not to triage an emergency.
Your responsibility
Your use of A&E Wait Time is at your sole risk. You are responsible for every decision you take on the basis of information presented on the site, including any decision about whether, when or where to seek medical care. If you are in any doubt about a medical situation, the correct action is to call NHS 111, contact your GP, or in an emergency call 999 — not to consult this website.
Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, A&E Wait Time and its founder accept no liability for any loss, injury, harm or damage of any kind arising out of, or in connection with, your reliance on any information published on this site — including any decision to attend or not attend an A&E department, any choice between hospitals, or any delay in seeking medical care.
Nothing in this disclaimer excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded under UK law.
See our terms of service for the full liability framework.
NHS complaints & concerns
If you have a concern or complaint about treatment you received at an NHS hospital, please raise it directly with the NHS. We are not the NHS and have no role in handling clinical complaints. The right routes are:
PALS. The Patient Advice and Liaison Service at the relevant NHS Trust is usually the fastest first port of call.
nhs.uk feedback & complaints. nhs.uk/feedback-and-complaints sets out the formal NHS complaints process for England.
Devolved nations. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland operate their own NHS complaints processes — check the relevant nation’s health service website.
Independent regulators. If a complaint is not resolved, you can escalate to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (England), Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, or NI Public Services Ombudsman as appropriate.
Effective date
In force from .
Re-reviewed at minimum every 90 days. Material changes are noted at the bottom of this page.