A&E Trauma Unit 16 years or over

Princess Alexandra Hospital (Harlow) A&E Waiting Times

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

3.0(880 reviews)
Live Updated 14 min ago
3h 33m
estimated wait time
↓ 115 min shorter than usual (5 hr 28 min avg)
11 hr 46 min
longest today
3 hr 5 min
shortest today
5 hr 28 min
usual wait
Typical wait for non-urgent cases. Patients are seen in order of clinical priority. The most seriously ill are always seen first, no matter how busy the department is.
This data might be old - tap to refresh
112 people
waiting
Call A&E
The wait time shown above does not apply to urgent or life-threatening cases, which are seen first regardless of the queue. Not sure if you need A&E? Visit NHS 111 online or call 111 (free, 24 hours a day). Life-threatening emergency or serious injury? Call 999.
Recent waits & what to expect
Forecast Waits set to rise
Expected wait over the next few hours
6 hr 35 min

Built from 2,399 readings taken here over the last 28 days, then adjusted to how today is going so far. A guide, not a guarantee.

Typical waits by time of day
Usually quietest around 3pm - busiest around 8am
Typical waits by day of week
Sunday tends to be quietest, Tuesday busiest
Nearby A&E & urgent care
Princess Alexandra Hospital Children's A&E
0.1 mi away
Long wait
Princess Alexandra Hospital Same Day Emergency Care A&E
0.1 mi away
Long wait
Sheppey MIU
39.0 mi away
Long wait
Milton Keynes Hospital A&E
39.2 mi away
Long wait
Milton Keynes Children's A&E
39.2 mi away
Long wait

There are also other nearby A&Es which collect wait times from the community, including North Middlesex Hospital, King George Hospital and Whipps Cross Hospital.

Contact & location
Hamstel Road, Harlow, Essex, CM20 1QX
Switchboard: 01279 444455
Princess Alexandra Hospital A&E in Harlow
Opening times
Monday TodayOpen 24 hours
TuesdayOpen 24 hours
WednesdayOpen 24 hours
ThursdayOpen 24 hours
FridayOpen 24 hours
SaturdayOpen 24 hours
SundayOpen 24 hours
CQC Rating
requires improvement
Inspected 25 Apr 2023
Getting here
Train stations
Harlow Town Rail Station17 min walk to A&E
Roydon Rail Station43 min walk to A&E
Harlow Mill Rail Station49 min walk to A&E
Bus stops
10 routes·4 operators·5 stops within walking distance
Princess Alexandra Hospital (entrance, southbound)1 min walk to A&E
26Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre
27Transport Made SimpleMark Hall ↔ Old Harlow
407Stephensons of EssexOld Harlow ↔ Harlow
407Transport Made SimpleOld Harlow ↔ Harlow
6Arriva UK BusHarlow Town Centre
6Arriva Thameside
PAH Fourth Avenue (opp, westbound)2 min walk to A&E
26Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre
31Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre ↔ Coopersale
32ATransport Made Simplefrom Harlow Town Centre
6Arriva UK BusHarlow Town Centre
PAH Fourth Avenue (o/s, eastbound)2 min walk to A&E
14Stephensons of EssexHarlow Town Centre
31Transport Made SimpleCoopersale ↔ Harlow Town Centre
32ATransport Made Simpleto Harlow Town Centre
Hare Street Springs (adj, northbound)2 min walk to A&E
27Transport Made SimpleOld Harlow ↔ Mark Hall
5Transport Made SimpleSumners Farm ↔ Harlow Town Centre
Hare Street Springs (opp, southbound)4 min walk to A&E
27Transport Made SimpleMark Hall ↔ Old Harlow
5Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre ↔ Sumners Farm
Plan journey by public transport
Harlow A&E wait times - last 24 hours
Hour Avg. wait People waiting
Today, 3 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 25 min 110
Today, 2 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 21 min 111
Today, 1 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 39 min 102
Today, 12 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 5 hr 93
Today, 11 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 6 hr 17 min 81
Today, 10 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 6 hr 18 min 74
Today, 9 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 7 hr 38 min 74
Today, 8 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 11 hr 25 min 71
Today, 7 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 10 hr 31 min 70
Today, 6 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 9 hr 34 min 75
Today, 5 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 8 hr 34 min 79
Today, 4 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 7 hr 34 min 77
Today, 3 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 6 hr 54 min 74
Today, 2 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 6 hr 15 min 76
Today, 1 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 5 hr 33 min 77
Today, 12 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 5 hr 17 min 76
Yesterday, 11 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 4 hr 56 min 75
Yesterday, 10 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 5 hr 2 min 73
Yesterday, 9 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 4 hr 24 min 70
Yesterday, 8 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 40 min 61
Yesterday, 7 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 23 min 53
Yesterday, 6 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 2 hr 58 min 54
Yesterday, 5 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 2 hr 42 min 61
Departments & services
  • Accident and emergency (A&E)
  • Breast cancer services
  • Cardiology
  • Cataract Surgery
  • Children's & Adolescent Services
  • Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
  • Colorectal cancer services
  • Dementia Services
  • Dermatology
  • Diabetic Medicine
  • Ear, Nose & Throat
  • Emergency Abdominal Surgery
  • Endocrine and thyroid surgery
  • Endocrinology and Metabolic Medicine
  • Gastrointestinal and Liver services
  • General Surgery
  • Geriatric Medicine
  • Haematology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Inpatient Diabetes
  • Intensive Care
  • Major trauma
  • Maternity services
  • Neonatal Care
  • Neurology
  • Obstetrics And Gynaecology
  • Ophthalmology
  • Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
  • Orthopaedics
  • Paediatric Surgery
  • Phlebotomy
  • Prostate Cancer Service
  • Respiratory Medicine
  • Urgent Treatment Centre
  • Vascular surgery
What’s available here
Accessibility
Disabled ParkingInduction LoopSigning Service AvailableWheelchair Access
Accommodation
Access To TvPublic Telephone
Parking
Car ParkingCycle ParkingDisabled Parking
Food and Amenities
CafePharmacyShop
Recent visitor feedbackreported by visitors
Overall
Not recommended by visitors
Staff
Staff are friendly and helpful
Staff keep you informed about wait times
Triage is typically quick
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
Enough seating in the waiting area
No TV in the waiting area
No food or drink available nearby
No phone charging points
No free WiFi
Mobile signal is good
Parking
Parking often requires parking elsewhere
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.
Visitor experiencesshared by visitors

“Staff were lovely. I was sent to appropriate department quickly”

Carol · 1 month ago

About Princess Alexandra Hospital

Princess Alexandra Hospital runs a 24-hour accident and emergency department, open to 16 years or over, on Hamstel Road in Harlow, Essex, part of The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust. It is a designated Trauma Unit, equipped to treat significant injuries and to stabilise the most serious cases before transfer to a regional Major Trauma Centre. The wider site runs 35 listed departments and services, from Breast cancer services to Vascular surgery.

The Care Quality Commission rates it Requires Improvement, last inspected in April 2023. Over the past 28 days, waits here have typically been shortest around 3pm and longest around 8am, a gap of about 5 hours 50 minutes. The site lists 1,246 parking spaces, 32 of them designated disabled bays, with patient parking averaging £0.72 an hour.

Official NHS performance

71.4%seen within 4 hours
9,234attendances in September 2026
60.4%England average for major A&Es

NHS England publishes these figures for The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust as a whole, covering every A&E the trust runs rather than this site alone. That is above 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, 71% of 417 patients who responded at this site reported a positive experience. The trust's general and acute wards averaged 95.9% 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
2023-24102,4348,53644.9%1,418
2024-2596,7688,06449.0%1,710
2025-2699,4018,28367.4%2,447
2026-27 (6 months)54,3409,05773.3%1,602

Between 2023-24 and 2025-26, monthly A&E attendances fell 3% and the share seen within four hours improved by 22.4 percentage points.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check the current A&E wait time at Princess Alexandra Hospital?

The live waiting time for the A&E at Princess Alexandra Hospital is shown at the top of this page, together with when it was last updated.

When is the A&E at Princess Alexandra Hospital quietest?

Based on the last 28 days of readings at Princess Alexandra Hospital, waits are usually lowest around 3pm and highest around 8am. The typical-day chart on this page shows the full hour-by-hour pattern, and our guide to the best time to visit covers UK-wide patterns.

How long will I wait at Princess Alexandra 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 Princess Alexandra Hospital is doing right now. NHS England's most recent figures (September 2026) show 71.4% of patients across the trust's A&E departments were seen within four hours.

How often are the waiting times on this page updated?

Figures refresh every 15 minutes, and the last-updated time near the top of the page shows exactly when the newest reading was taken. Waiting times can change quickly, so treat any figure as a guide rather than a guarantee.

Is the A&E at Princess Alexandra Hospital open 24 hours?

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

Where is Princess Alexandra Hospital and how do I get there?

Princess Alexandra Hospital is at Hamstel Road, Harlow, Essex, CM20 1QX. For general enquiries call 01279 444455. Enter your postcode in the Getting here section for a door-to-door route.

Is parking free at Princess Alexandra Hospital?

No - patient and visitor parking here averages about £0.72 an hour (NHS estates return, 2024-25). The site lists 1,246 parking spaces, including 32 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 Princess Alexandra Hospital?

Princess Alexandra 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 April 2023. You can read the full CQC report.

Can children be treated at Princess Alexandra 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 Princess Alexandra Hospital a Major Trauma Centre?

No - Princess Alexandra Hospital is a designated Trauma Unit. It treats significant injuries and stabilises the most complex cases before transfer to a regional Major Trauma Centre.
Where this data comes from
Wait times shown here are sourced from publicly available information published by The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust. Our system automatically checks the trust’s published waiting-times page every 15 minutes and records the displayed waiting time. Data was last checked at 3:45pm on 26 Oct 2026. A full list of every source we use, and when each was last checked, is on our data sources page.
Verified sourceDirect capture from The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust
Independently captured screenshot of The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust’s public wait time page
Captured at 3:45 pm on Monday 26 October 2026

This site is independent and has no affiliation with, or endorsement by, any NHS trust or hospital. 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. Wait times change frequently and may not reflect the current situation, so always contact the hospital directly for the most up-to-date information. If any information is incorrect, please let us know.

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