Latest report
7 hr
23 Oct 01:44
Average
9 hr 22 min
16 reports
Reported by visitors, not the hospital. Waits shown here are typical for non-urgent cases. Patients are seen in order of clinical priority, so the most seriously ill are always seen first no matter how busy the department is.
Report a wait time

Share your experience to help keep this data accurate.

0 minutes total
Community reported wait times

These times are reported by visitors and may not reflect current conditions.

Nearby A&E & urgent care
31.2 mi away
Short wait
Long wait
Long wait
Long wait

There are also other nearby A&Es which collect wait times from the community, including Sheffield Hospital, Rotherham Hospital and Barnsley Hospital.

Contact & location
Northern General Hospital, Herries Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S5 7AU
Switchboard: 0114 243 4343
Opening times
Monday TodayOpen 24 hours
TuesdayOpen 24 hours
WednesdayOpen 24 hours
ThursdayOpen 24 hours
FridayOpen 24 hours
SaturdayOpen 24 hours
SundayOpen 24 hours
Getting here
Train stations
Medowhall Rail Station36 min walk to A&E
Meadowhall Rail Station38 min walk to A&E
Sheffield Rail Station45 min walk to A&E
Darnall Rail Station52 min walk to A&E
Metro / tram
Bamforth Street34 min walk to A&E
Langsett - Primrose View34 min walk to A&E
Attercliffe34 min walk to A&E
Infirmary Road35 min walk to A&E
Kelham Island35 min walk to A&E
Bus stops
2 routes·2 operators·5 stops within walking distance
Herries Road Drive/Service Road (adj, south-west)2 min walk to A&E
Herries Road Drive/Service Road (opp, north-east)2 min walk to A&E
Northern General Hospital/Fox Way (at, northbound)3 min walk to A&E
32TM Travel LtdSheffield Centre ↔ Meadowhall
H1Sheffield Community TransportFir Vale ↔ Broomhill
Herries Road Drive/Herries Road (adj, north-east)4 min walk to A&E
Fox Way/South Lane (O/S, eastbound)4 min walk to A&E
Plan journey by public transport
What’s available here
Accessibility
Disabled ParkingInduction LoopSigning Service AvailableWheelchair Access
Accommodation
Access To TvInternet AccessPublic Telephone
Parking
Car ParkingDisabled Parking
Food and Amenities
CafeShop
Recent visitor feedbackreported by visitors
Overall
Recommended by visitors
Staff
Staff are friendly and helpful
Not always kept informed about wait times
Triage can be slow
Environment
Waiting area is clean
Toilets could be cleaner
Waiting area feels safe
Family
No children’s play area
No separate children’s waiting area
Facilities
Seating can be limited
No TV in the waiting area
Food and drink available nearby
No phone charging points
No free WiFi
Mobile signal is poor
Parking
Parking can get busy
Payment accepted: card
Based on 2 visitor responses in the last 6 months. This information is collected through a short anonymous survey shown to visitors on this page.

About Northern General Hospital

Northern General Hospital runs a 24-hour accident and emergency department, open to 16 years or over, on Northern General Hospital, Herries Road in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, part of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It is also a designated Major Trauma Centre - the tier of hospital equipped for life-threatening injuries and complex emergency surgery, which is why ambulances will sometimes drive past closer A&Es to bring the most severely injured patients here. The wider site runs 47 listed departments and services, from Acute Internal Medicine to Vascular surgery.

The Care Quality Commission rates it Requires Improvement, last inspected in September 2022. It rated the hospital's urgent and emergency services Requires Improvement when they were last inspected in December 2022. The site lists 2,913 parking spaces, 180 of them designated disabled bays, with patient parking averaging £0.70 an hour.

Official NHS performance

47.8%seen within 4 hours
9,046attendances in September 2026
60.4%England average for major A&Es

NHS England publishes these figures for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as a whole, covering every A&E the trust runs rather than this site alone. That is below the England average of 60.4% for major A&E departments over the same month.

In the NHS Friends and Family Test for August 2026, 62% of 421 patients who responded at this site reported a positive experience. The trust's general and acute wards averaged 90.6% overnight bed occupancy in the quarter to March 2026 - full wards are the main reason admitted patients queue in A&E.

Attendances by year

NHS yearA&E attendancesMonthly averageWithin 4 hours12hr+ waits to admit
2023-24106,0068,83449.9%100
2024-25107,6278,96947.4%142
2025-26106,8388,90349.2%103
2026-27 (6 months)54,9199,15349.7%51

Between 2023-24 and 2025-26, monthly A&E attendances stayed broadly flat and the share seen within four hours changed little.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check the current A&E wait time at Northern General Hospital?

The live waiting time for the A&E at Northern General Hospital is shown at the top of this page, together with when it was last updated. Times are reported by recent visitors and carry a community badge - after your own visit you can submit your wait time in a few seconds to help the next person.

When is the A&E at Northern General Hospital quietest?

Patterns vary by hospital, but across UK urgent and emergency care the quietest window is usually the early morning, roughly 4am to 7am, with demand building through the afternoon and peaking in the evening. Friday and Saturday nights and Monday mornings are typically the busiest periods. See our guide to the best time to visit for more detail.

How long will I wait at Northern General Hospital A&E?

Patients are triaged on arrival and the most urgent cases are always seen first, so your wait depends on how serious your condition is and how busy the department is. Hospitals in England work to the NHS four-hour standard - the aim is to admit, transfer or discharge patients within four hours of arrival. The live figure on this page shows how Northern General Hospital is doing right now. NHS England's most recent figures (September 2026) show 47.8% of patients across the trust's A&E departments were seen within four hours.

How often are the waiting times on this page updated?

This page updates whenever a visitor submits a new wait time, so freshness depends on recent reports - each entry shows when that person visited. If you have been to Northern General Hospital recently, submitting your wait takes a few seconds and helps others plan.

Is the A&E at Northern General Hospital open 24 hours?

Yes - the A&E at Northern General Hospital is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. In a life-threatening emergency always call 999.

Where is Northern General Hospital and how do I get there?

Northern General Hospital is at Northern General Hospital, Herries Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S5 7AU. For general enquiries call 0114 243 4343. Enter your postcode in the Getting here section for a door-to-door route.

Is parking free at Northern General Hospital?

No - patient and visitor parking here averages about £0.70 an hour (NHS estates return, 2024-25). The site lists 2,913 parking spaces, including 180 designated disabled bays. Concessions often apply for blue badge holders, frequent attenders and some patients - check the hospital's own parking page.

What is the CQC rating for Northern General Hospital?

Northern General Hospital is rated Requires Improvement overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and social care in England, following an inspection in September 2022. It rated the hospital's urgent and emergency services Requires Improvement when they were last inspected in December 2022. You can read the full CQC report.

Can children be treated at Northern General Hospital A&E?

This A&E serves: 16 years or over. If your child's age group is not treated here, the nearby section on this page lists alternatives - or call NHS 111 for urgent advice and 999 in an emergency.

Is Northern General Hospital a Major Trauma Centre?

Yes - Northern General Hospital is a designated Major Trauma Centre, equipped for the most serious emergencies including major injuries and complex surgery. The most severely injured patients in the region are taken here, sometimes bypassing closer hospitals.
About this data
This hospital does not currently have a live data source. The waiting times shown here are reported by visitors and may not reflect current conditions. You can see how we source data for every hospital on our data sources page. Department labels shown (e.g. A&E, MIU, UTC) are our interpretation of the source data and may not match the hospital’s own terminology. If any information is incorrect, please let us know.
Directions