About WaitSmart
WaitSmart provides live A&E waiting time data for NHS hospitals across the UK. We aggregate publicly available information from hospital trust websites and present it in a clear, accessible format - helping people make informed decisions about emergency care.
Who’s Behind WaitSmart
WaitSmart is a product of Search Ventures Ltd (Company No. 10588553), a company registered in England and Wales.
MH
Matthew Hodson
Founder & Director
LinkedIn
Why We Built This
When you or someone you care about needs A&E, waiting times matter. But finding that information quickly isn’t always easy - every hospital trust publishes their data differently, on different pages, in different formats. And many don’t publish at all.
WaitSmart brings all of that together into one place. We don’t just show waiting times - we provide opening hours, driving directions, historical trends, and forecasts so you can make the best decision for your situation.
Where the data doesn’t exist officially, our community fills the gap. Real people sharing their real experiences helps everyone who comes after them. It’s a simple idea: if you waited 3 hours at an A&E and had no way of knowing beforehand, you can make sure the next person does.
How We Collect Data
We use a combination of automated collection and community input to build the most complete picture possible:
1
Source identification
We identify the publicly accessible page on each NHS trust’s website where they display their current A&E waiting times. Where a trust does not publish waiting times directly, we may use third-party sources or applications that surface the same data.
2
Automated collection
Our system checks each hospital’s website at regular intervals throughout the day and records the displayed waiting time.
3
Community contributions
Not every hospital publishes live waiting times. For those that don’t, we rely on real visitors to submit the wait they experienced. These community reports are clearly labelled and help fill gaps that automated collection can’t reach. This community-driven approach means our coverage grows with every person who takes a moment to share their experience.
4
Validation & processing
Each reading - whether automated or community-submitted - is validated and normalised into a consistent format. We flag anomalies and track data freshness so you always know how recent the information is.
5
Historical analysis
Readings are stored over time, allowing us to calculate averages, identify trends, and generate forecasts based on historical patterns for each hospital.
Important Limitations
We believe in being upfront about what this service can and cannot do:
- We are not a medical service. WaitSmart is an informational tool only. It does not provide medical advice and should never replace professional clinical guidance.
- Wait times are estimates. The data we display is sourced from hospitals and may not reflect the exact wait you experience. Conditions change rapidly.
- Our listing may not be complete. We do not claim to list every A&E, Urgent Treatment Centre, Minor Injuries Unit, or Walk-in Centre in the UK. These are the departments we currently know about and track. If you know of one we’re missing, please tell us.
- Some listings are community-sourced. Where a hospital does not publish live waiting times, the data shown may come entirely from community submissions - reports from real visitors sharing their experience. These are clearly labelled. Community data is inherently less frequent than automated feeds and may not reflect current conditions.
- We are independent. WaitSmart has no affiliation with, or endorsement by, the NHS, any NHS trust, or any healthcare provider.
- Forecasts are not guarantees. Our predictions are based on historical patterns and may not account for unusual circumstances.
- Department labels are our interpretation. Classifications such as “A&E”, “MIU”, or “Urgent Treatment Centre” are derived from the source data and may not match the terminology used by the hospital itself. If you spot an error, please let us know.
Our Values
Transparency
We show where our data comes from and when it was last checked. No black boxes.
Accuracy
We validate every data point and clearly flag when information may be stale or unavailable.
Accessibility
Built for everyone - easy to use on any device, designed to work when you need it most.
Privacy
No accounts, no tracking beyond basic analytics. Your postcode stays in your browser.
Data Sources & Attribution
WaitSmart aggregates data from the following types of sources:
- NHS hospital trust websites - the primary source for live A&E waiting times, published publicly by each trust.
- Community submissions - where a hospital does not publish live waiting times, real visitors can submit the wait they experienced. This community-driven data helps us cover departments that would otherwise have no information at all. Community reports are always clearly labelled.
- Third-party sources & applications - where a trust does not publish waiting times directly on their website, we may source that data from third-party services or applications that provide equivalent publicly available information.
- NHS Digital / NHS England - for hospital location data, department listings, and facility information.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC) - for inspection ratings and reports.
- Google Business Profiles - for supplementary information such as reviews and ratings.
- OpenStreetMap - for map rendering. © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Contact Us
Got a question, spotted an error, or want to get in touch? Visit our contact page.