A&E Major Trauma Centre

Preston A&E Live Waiting Times

Royal Preston Hospital

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Latest report
13 hr
22 Oct 23:17
Average
9 hr 34 min
14 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.
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0 minutes total
Community reported wait times

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

Nearby A&E & urgent care
Warrington Hospital A&E
27.7 mi away
Long wait
Runcorn Urgent Treatment Centre
32.4 mi away
Long wait
Leighton Hospital A&E
47.5 mi away
Long wait
Haywood Hospital Walk-in Centre
55.0 mi away
Long wait
Leek MIU
55.6 mi away
Short wait

There are also other nearby A&Es which collect wait times from the community, including Chorley And South Ribble Hospital, Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital and Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

Contact & location
Sharoe Green Lane North, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9HT
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
Preston Rail Station49 min walk to A&E
Bus stops
16 routes·6 operators·5 stops within walking distance
Booths (opp, westbound)1 min walk to A&E
19Rotala Group of CompaniesLarches ↔ Sharoe Green
19ARotala Group of CompaniesLea ↔ Sharoe Green
19SRotala Group of CompaniesSharoe Green
19SPreston Bus
23Rotala Group of CompaniesEastway ↔ Bamber Bridge
45Vision BusPreston City Centre ↔ Blackburn Town Centre
48Rotala Group of CompaniesPreston City Centre ↔ Lea
584Mario Coach Travel LtdSharoe Green ↔ Longridge
Booths (by, eastbound)2 min walk to A&E
23Rotala Group of CompaniesBamber Bridge ↔ Eastway
23Preston Bus
45Vision BusBlackburn Town Centre ↔ Preston City Centre
584Mario Coach Travel LtdLongridge ↔ Sharoe Green
941StagecoachLancaster City Centre ↔ Preston City Centre
Royal Preston Hospital Grounds (Stop 2, eastbound)2 min walk to A&E
125StagecoachSharoe Green ↔ Bolton
19Rotala Group of CompaniesSharoe Green ↔ Larches
19Preston Bus
19ARotala Group of CompaniesSharoe Green ↔ Lea
19APreston Bus
19SRotala Group of CompaniesSharoe Green
19SPreston Bus
48Rotala Group of CompaniesLea ↔ Preston City Centre
Royal Preston Hospital Grounds (Stop 1, eastbound)2 min walk to A&E
43Rotala Group of CompaniesPreston City Centre ↔ Sharoe Green
43Preston Bus
St Clare's Church (opp, north-west)4 min walk to A&E
125StagecoachBolton ↔ Sharoe Green
19Rotala Group of CompaniesLarches ↔ Sharoe Green
19ARotala Group of CompaniesLea ↔ Sharoe Green
19SRotala Group of CompaniesSharoe Green
19SPreston Bus
23Rotala Group of CompaniesEastway ↔ Bamber Bridge
45Vision BusPreston City Centre ↔ Blackburn Town Centre
572Coach Hire Executive TraFulwood ↔ Broughton
Plan journey by public transport
What’s available here
Accessibility
Disabled ParkingDisabled WcInduction LoopSigning Service AvailableWheelchair Access
Accommodation
Access To TvInternet AccessPublic TelephoneSingle Sex Accommodation Only
Parking
Car ParkingCycle ParkingDisabled Parking
Counselling and Support
Bereavement SupportTranslation Services
Faith Services
On-Site ChapelPrayer Area
Food and Amenities
CafePharmacyShop
Recent visitor feedbackreported by visitors
Overall
Not recommended by visitors
Staff
Staff can be unhelpful
Not always kept 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
No food or drink available nearby
Phone charging points available
Free WiFi is available
Mobile signal is poor
Parking
Parking can get busy
Payment accepted: app
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 Preston Hospital

Royal Preston Hospital runs a 24-hour accident and emergency department, open to all ages, on Sharoe Green Lane North in Preston, Lancashire, part of Lancashire 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 46 listed departments and services, from Allergy services in hospital to Vascular surgery.

The Care Quality Commission rates it Requires Improvement, last inspected in April 2023. It rated the hospital's urgent and emergency services Requires Improvement when they were last inspected in November 2023. The site lists 2,050 parking spaces, 79 of them designated disabled bays, with patient parking averaging £2.87 an hour.

Official NHS performance

67.4%seen within 4 hours
12,803attendances in September 2026
60.4%England average for major A&Es

NHS England publishes these figures for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation 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, 65% of 146 patients who responded at this site reported a positive experience. The trust's general and acute wards averaged 99.5% 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
2023-24142,64811,88761.6%3,258
2024-25141,47311,78961.6%4,599
2025-26144,19612,01662.7%5,349
2026-27 (6 months)75,90312,65066.4%2,230

Between 2023-24 and 2025-26, monthly A&E attendances stayed broadly flat and the share seen within four hours improved by 1.1 percentage points.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check the current A&E wait time at Royal Preston Hospital?

The live waiting time for the A&E at Royal Preston 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 Royal Preston 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 Royal Preston 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 Royal Preston Hospital is doing right now. NHS England's most recent figures (September 2026) show 67.4% of patients across the trust's A&E departments were seen within four hours.

How often are the waiting times on this page updated?

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 Royal Preston Hospital recently, submitting your wait takes a few seconds and helps others plan.

Is the A&E at Royal Preston Hospital open 24 hours?

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

Where is Royal Preston Hospital and how do I get there?

Royal Preston Hospital is at Sharoe Green Lane North, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9HT. For general enquiries call 01772 716565. Enter your postcode in the Getting here section for a door-to-door route.

Is parking free at Royal Preston Hospital?

No - patient and visitor parking here averages about £2.87 an hour (NHS estates return, 2024-25). The site lists 2,050 parking spaces, including 79 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 Royal Preston Hospital?

Royal Preston 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. It rated the hospital's urgent and emergency services Requires Improvement when they were last inspected in November 2023. You can read the full CQC report.

Can children be treated at Royal Preston Hospital A&E?

This A&E serves: All ages. 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 Royal Preston Hospital a Major Trauma Centre?

Yes - Royal Preston 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.
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