Children's A&E

Royal Hospital (Belfast) Children's A&E Waiting Times

Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

Live Updated 14 min ago
1h 44m
estimated wait time
↑ 4 min longer than usual (1 hr 40 min avg)
5 hr 38 min
longest today
38 min
shortest today
1 hr 40 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
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 Steady for now
Expected wait over the next few hours
1 hr 15 min

Built from 2,558 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 11am - busiest around 5am
Typical waits by day of week
Tuesday tends to be quietest, Saturday busiest
Nearby A&E & urgent care
Royal Victoria Hospital Belfast A&E
0.0 mi away
Long wait
Mater Hospital A&E
1.1 mi away
Long wait
Ulster Hospital A&E
5.7 mi away
Long wait
Lagan Valley Hospital MIU
7.1 mi away
Long wait
Antrim Area Hospital A&E
13.3 mi away
Long wait

There are also other nearby A&Es which collect wait times from the community, including Galloway Community Hospital, Campbeltown Hospital and Girvan Community Hospital.

Contact & location
Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, 274 Grosvenor Road, Belfast, BT12 6BA
Royal Hospital Children's A&E in Belfast
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
Belfast Children's A&E wait times - last 24 hours
Hour Avg. wait
Today, 3 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 1 hr 32 min
Today, 2 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 53 min
Today, 1 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 44 min
Today, 12 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 38 min
Today, 11 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 1 hr 12 min
Today, 10 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 37 min
Today, 9 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 5 hr 29 min
Today, 8 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 28 min
Today, 7 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 33 min
Today, 6 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 28 min
Today, 5 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 28 min
Today, 4 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 44 min
Today, 3 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 36 min
Today, 2 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 19 min
Today, 1 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 6 min
Today, 12 AM
avg. of 4 readings
 2 hr 46 min
Yesterday, 11 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 2 hr 10 min
Yesterday, 10 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 2 hr 46 min
Yesterday, 9 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 2 hr 37 min
Yesterday, 8 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 1 hr 55 min
Yesterday, 7 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 1 hr 54 min
Yesterday, 6 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 3 hr 28 min
Yesterday, 5 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 1 hr 33 min
Yesterday, 4 PM
avg. of 4 readings
 1 hr 6 min
Recent visitor feedbackreported by visitors
Overall
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 are clean
Waiting area feels safe
Family
No children’s play area
Separate children’s waiting area
Facilities
Enough seating in the waiting area
No TV in the waiting area
Food and drink available nearby
Phone charging points available
Free WiFi is available
Mobile signal is poor
Parking
Parking is easy to find
Parking costs over £10
Payment accepted: cash
Based on 1 visitor response in the last 6 months. This information is collected through a short anonymous survey shown to visitors on this page.

About Royal Hospital

Royal Hospital runs a 24-hour dedicated children's emergency department on Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, 274 Grosvenor Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland, part of Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.

Over the past 28 days, waits here have typically been shortest around 11am and longest around 5am, a gap of about an hour and a half.

Frequently asked questions

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

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

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

Based on the last 28 days of readings at Royal Hospital, waits are usually lowest around 11am and highest around 5am. 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 Royal 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. In Northern Ireland the standard is for 95% of patients to be seen and then admitted or discharged within four hours, though busy departments often exceed this. The live figure on this page shows how Royal 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.

Is the Children's A&E at Royal Hospital open 24 hours?

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

Where is Royal Hospital and how do I get there?

Royal Hospital is at Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, 274 Grosvenor Road, Belfast, BT12 6BA. For general enquiries call 01273 696955. 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 Belfast Health and Social Care Trust through NI Direct, Northern Ireland's official government service. Our system automatically checks that service 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 Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
Independently captured screenshot of Belfast Health and Social Care 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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