A&E

South Shields A&E Live Waiting Times

South Tyneside District Hospital

South Tyneside And Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust

Latest report
7 hr
21 Jun 19:10
Average
5 hr 40 min
2 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
Penrith Community Hospital Urgent Treatment Centre
56.7 mi away
Long wait
Cumberland Infirmary A&E
61.0 mi away
Long wait
Keswick Community Hospital Urgent Treatment Centre
72.7 mi away
Long wait
West Cumberland Hospital A&E
90.4 mi away
Long wait
Gainsborough Urgent Treatment Centre
111.0 mi away
Long wait

There are also other nearby A&Es which collect wait times from the community, including Pallion, Sunderland Royal Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital Gateshead.

Contact & location
Harton Lane, South Shields, NE34 0PL
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
Metro / tram
Tyne Dock (Tyne and Wear Metro Station)13 min walk to A&E
Chichester (Tyne and Wear Metro Station)21 min walk to A&E
Simonside (Tyne and Wear Metro Station)22 min walk to A&E
Bede (Tyne and Wear Metro Station)30 min walk to A&E
Brockley Whins (Tyne and Wear Metro Station)32 min walk to A&E
Bus stops
9 routes·4 operators·5 stops within walking distance
South Tyneside Hospital Grounds (S-Bound, southbound)2 min walk to A&E
South Tyneside Hospital (N-Bound, northbound)2 min walk to A&E
10StagecoachSouth Shields ↔ Jarrow
12StagecoachSouth Shields
South Tyneside Hospital Grounds (N-Bound, northbound)2 min walk to A&E
South Tyneside Hospital (S-Bound, southbound)2 min walk to A&E
11StagecoachJarrow ↔ South Shields
13StagecoachSouth Shields
South Tyneside Hospital (NE-Bound, north-east)4 min walk to A&E
11StagecoachJarrow ↔ South Shields
13StagecoachSouth Shields
25Go-AheadJarrow ↔ South Shields
25AGo-AheadJarrow ↔ South Shields
26Go-AheadHebburn ↔ South Shields
26Go North East
525Jim Hughes Coaches
Plan journey by public transport
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 are clean
Waiting area can feel unsafe
Family
No children’s play area
Separate children’s waiting area
Facilities
Enough seating in the waiting area
TV in the waiting area
Food and drink available nearby
No phone charging points
Free WiFi is available
Mobile signal is good
Parking
Parking is easy to find
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 South Tyneside District Hospital

South Tyneside District Hospital runs a 24-hour accident and emergency department, open to 16 years or over, on Harton Lane in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, part of South Tyneside And Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust. The wider site runs 29 listed departments and services, from Cardiology to Vascular surgery.

The Care Quality Commission rates it Requires Improvement, last inspected in January 1900. It rated the hospital's urgent and emergency services Requires Improvement when they were last inspected in June 2020. The site lists 906 parking spaces, 36 of them designated disabled bays, with patient parking averaging £1.50 an hour.

Official NHS performance

59.5%seen within 4 hours
11,770attendances in September 2026
60.4%England average for major A&Es

NHS England publishes these figures for South Tyneside And Sunderland 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, 82% of 513 patients who responded at this site reported a positive experience. The trust's general and acute wards averaged 87.9% 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
2023-24139,93811,66255.6%68
2024-25136,13711,34553.1%118
2025-26134,52411,21053.1%46
2026-27 (6 months)67,96211,32762.8%4

Between 2023-24 and 2025-26, monthly A&E attendances fell 4% and the share seen within four hours fell by 2.4 percentage points.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check the current A&E wait time at South Tyneside District Hospital?

The live waiting time for the A&E at South Tyneside District 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 South Tyneside District 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 South Tyneside District 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 South Tyneside District Hospital is doing right now. NHS England's most recent figures (September 2026) show 59.5% 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 South Tyneside District Hospital recently, submitting your wait takes a few seconds and helps others plan.

Is the A&E at South Tyneside District Hospital open 24 hours?

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

Where is South Tyneside District Hospital and how do I get there?

South Tyneside District Hospital is at Harton Lane, South Shields, NE34 0PL. For general enquiries call 0191 454 8888. Enter your postcode in the Getting here section for a door-to-door route.

Is parking free at South Tyneside District Hospital?

No - patient and visitor parking here averages about £1.50 an hour (NHS estates return, 2024-25). The site lists 906 parking spaces, including 36 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 South Tyneside District Hospital?

South Tyneside District 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 January 1900. It rated the hospital's urgent and emergency services Requires Improvement when they were last inspected in June 2020. You can read the full CQC report.

Can children be treated at South Tyneside District 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.
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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