Children's A&E

Princess Alexandra Hospital (Harlow) Children's A&E Waiting Times

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

Live Updated 9 min ago
2h 36m
estimated wait time
↑ 17 min longer than usual (2 hr 19 min avg)
6 hr 22 min
longest today
1 hr
shortest today
2 hr 19 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
16 people
waiting
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
2 hr 25 min

Built from 2,397 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 9am - busiest around 2am
Typical waits by day of week
Thursday tends to be quietest, Tuesday busiest
Nearby A&E & urgent care
Princess Alexandra Hospital A&E
0.0 mi away
Long wait
Princess Alexandra Hospital Same Day Emergency Care A&E
0.0 mi away
Long wait
Sheppey MIU
39.0 mi away
Long wait
Milton Keynes Hospital A&E
39.3 mi away
Long wait
Milton Keynes Children's A&E
39.3 mi away
Moderate 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
Getting here
Train stations
Harlow Town Rail Station15 min walk to Children's A&E
Roydon Rail Station44 min walk to Children's A&E
Harlow Mill Rail Station47 min walk to Children's A&E
Bus stops
25 routes·5 operators·5 stops within walking distance
Princess Alexandra Hospital (entrance, southbound)3 min walk to Children's 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
Bus Garage (opp, south-west)4 min walk to Children's A&E
1Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre
15Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre ↔ Waltham Cross
15ATransport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre ↔ Waltham Cross
2Transport Made SimpleHarlow
20Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre ↔ Ongar
21Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre ↔ Epping
22Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre ↔ Epping
22BTransport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre ↔ Hastingwood
23Transport Made SimpleHarlow
26Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre
27Transport Made SimpleMark Hall ↔ Old Harlow
3Arriva UK BusHarlow Town Centre
3Transport Made SimpleHarlow
31Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre ↔ Coopersale
32Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre ↔ Broxbourne
32ATransport Made Simplefrom Harlow Town Centre
4First BusHarlow
4Arriva UK BusHarlow Town Centre
4Transport Made SimpleHarlow
407Stephensons of EssexOld Harlow ↔ Harlow
407Transport Made SimpleOld Harlow ↔ Harlow
5Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre ↔ Sumners Farm
6Arriva UK BusHarlow Town Centre
6Arriva Thameside
Bus Garage (o/s, north-east)4 min walk to Children's A&E
1Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre
14Stephensons of EssexHarlow Town Centre
15Transport Made SimpleWaltham Cross ↔ Harlow Town Centre
15ATransport Made SimpleWaltham Cross ↔ Harlow Town Centre
2Transport Made SimpleHarlow
20Transport Made SimpleOngar ↔ Harlow Town Centre
21Transport Made SimpleEpping ↔ Harlow Town Centre
22Transport Made SimpleEpping ↔ Harlow Town Centre
23Transport Made SimpleHarlow
27Transport Made SimpleOld Harlow ↔ Mark Hall
3Arriva UK BusHarlow Town Centre
3Transport Made SimpleHarlow
31Transport Made SimpleCoopersale ↔ Harlow Town Centre
32Transport Made SimpleBroxbourne ↔ Harlow Town Centre
32ATransport Made Simpleto Harlow Town Centre
4First BusHarlow
4Arriva UK BusHarlow Town Centre
4Transport Made SimpleHarlow
407Stephensons of EssexHarlow ↔ Old Harlow
407Transport Made SimpleHarlow ↔ Old Harlow
5Transport Made SimpleSumners Farm ↔ Harlow Town Centre
Hare Street Springs (adj, northbound)4 min walk to Children's A&E
27Transport Made SimpleOld Harlow ↔ Mark Hall
5Transport Made SimpleSumners Farm ↔ Harlow Town Centre
PAH Fourth Avenue (opp, westbound)4 min walk to Children's A&E
26Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre
31Transport Made SimpleHarlow Town Centre ↔ Coopersale
32ATransport Made Simplefrom Harlow Town Centre
6Arriva UK BusHarlow Town Centre
Plan journey by public transport
Harlow Children's A&E wait times - last 24 hours
Hour Avg. wait People waiting
Today, 12 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 2 hr 14 min 14
Today, 11 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 1 hr 50 min 10
Today, 10 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 1 hr 38 min 11
Today, 9 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 18 min 8
Today, 8 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 5 hr 55 min 10
Today, 7 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 5 hr 35 min 13
Today, 6 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 4 hr 33 min 11
Today, 5 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 34 min 10
Today, 4 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 4 hr 17 min 18
Today, 3 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 50 min 21
Today, 2 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 4 hr 14 min 17
Today, 1 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 4 hr 2 min 13
Today, 12 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 4 hr 22 min 14
Yesterday, 11 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 4 hr 53 min 16
Yesterday, 10 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 6 hr 46 min 30
Yesterday, 9 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 5 hr 47 min 33
Yesterday, 8 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 4 hr 45 min 27
Yesterday, 7 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 45 min 21
Yesterday, 6 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 2 hr 48 min 16
Yesterday, 5 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 1 hr 51 min 16
Yesterday, 4 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 1 hr 26 min 12
Yesterday, 3 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 1 hr 13 min 10
Yesterday, 2 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 21 min 9
Yesterday, 1 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 1 min 7

About Princess Alexandra Hospital

Princess Alexandra Hospital is home to a dedicated children's emergency department on Hamstel Road in Harlow, Essex, part of The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust.

Over the past 28 days, waits here have typically been shortest around 9am and longest around 2am, a gap of about 2 hours 50 minutes.

Official NHS performance

96.4%seen within 4 hours at walk-in units
60.4%seen within 4 hours at major A&Es
September 2026England, NHS England figures

NHS England does not publish a separate return for this department, so there are no official figures for this site on its own. Across England in September 2026, walk-in units, urgent treatment centres and minor injuries units saw 96.4% of patients within four hours, against 60.4% at major A&E departments.

Frequently asked questions

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

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

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

Based on the last 28 days of readings at Princess Alexandra Hospital, waits are usually lowest around 9am and highest around 2am. 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 Children's 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.

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.

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

Princess Alexandra Hospital is at Hamstel Road, Harlow, Essex, CM20 1QX. Enter your postcode in the Getting here section for a door-to-door route.
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 12:46pm on 25 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 12:46 pm on Sunday 25 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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