A&E Trauma Unit

Sunderland Royal Hospital A&E Waiting Times

South Tyneside And Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust

Latest report
2 hr
11 Oct 08:22
Average
8 hr 59 min
7 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
55.8 mi away
Long wait
Cumberland Infirmary A&E
61.5 mi away
Long wait
Keswick Community Hospital Urgent Treatment Centre
72.0 mi away
Long wait
West Cumberland Hospital A&E
89.7 mi away
Long wait
Gainsborough Urgent Treatment Centre
106.2 mi away
Long wait

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

Contact & location
Kayll Road, Sunderland, SR4 7TP
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
Millfield (Tyne and Wear Metro Station)8 min walk to A&E
University (Tyne and Wear Metro Station)14 min walk to A&E
Pallion (Tyne and Wear Metro Station)16 min walk to A&E
Park Lane (Tyne and Wear Metro Station)20 min walk to A&E
Sunderland (Tyne and Wear Metro Station)22 min walk to A&E
Bus stops
21 routes·6 operators·5 stops within walking distance
Royal Hospital Kayll Road F (S-Bound, southbound)2 min walk to A&E
599Gateshead Central TaxisSunderland
935Go-AheadWitherwack ↔ Sunderland
935Go North East
99L & G CoachesHylton Castle ↔ Grangetown
Royal Hospital Kayll Road E (N-Bound, northbound)3 min walk to A&E
451Jim Hughes Coaches
599Gateshead Central TaxisSunderland
701Jim Hughes CoachesSt Peters
99L & G CoachesGrangetown ↔ Hylton Castle
Royal Hospital Kayll Road C (S-Bound, southbound)3 min walk to A&E
599Gateshead Central TaxisSunderland
935Go-AheadWitherwack ↔ Sunderland
935Go North East
99L & G CoachesHylton Castle ↔ Grangetown
Royal Hospital Chester Road A (E-Bound, eastbound)3 min walk to A&E
16StagecoachHastings Hill ↔ Hylton Red House
2Go-AheadWashington ↔ Sunderland
2Go North East
32Go-AheadLow Moorsley ↔ East End
599Gateshead Central TaxisSunderland
62Go-AheadPennywell ↔ Houghton-le-Spring
62Go North East
62AGo-AheadPennywell ↔ Doxford Park
78Go-AheadConsett ↔ Sunderland
78Go North East
8StagecoachSouth Hylton ↔ East End
8AGo North East
935Go-AheadWitherwack ↔ Sunderland
935Go North East
X24StagecoachNewcastle upon Tyne ↔ Sunderland
X24AStagecoachNewcastle upon Tyne ↔ Sunderland
Royal Hospital Hylton Road H (SW-Bound, south-west)3 min walk to A&E
10StagecoachGrangetown ↔ Pallion
20StagecoachSunderland ↔ Pennywell
Plan journey by public transport

About Sunderland Royal Hospital

Sunderland Royal Hospital runs a 24-hour accident and emergency department, open to under 16 years, on Kayll Road in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, part of South Tyneside And Sunderland NHS Foundation 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 29 listed departments and services, from Cardiology to Vascular surgery.

The Care Quality Commission rates it Requires Improvement, last inspected in May 2024. It rated the hospital's urgent and emergency services Requires Improvement when they were last inspected in June 2020. The site lists 1,750 parking spaces, 79 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, 81% of 984 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 Sunderland Royal Hospital?

The live waiting time for the A&E at Sunderland Royal 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 Sunderland Royal 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 Sunderland Royal 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 Sunderland Royal 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 Sunderland Royal Hospital recently, submitting your wait takes a few seconds and helps others plan.

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

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

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

Sunderland Royal Hospital is at Kayll Road, Sunderland, SR4 7TP. For general enquiries call 0191 565 6256. Enter your postcode in the Getting here section for a door-to-door route.

Is parking free at Sunderland Royal Hospital?

No - patient and visitor parking here averages about £1.50 an hour (NHS estates return, 2024-25). The site lists 1,750 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 Sunderland Royal Hospital?

Sunderland Royal 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 May 2024. 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 Sunderland Royal Hospital A&E?

This A&E serves: Under 16 years. 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 Sunderland Royal Hospital a Major Trauma Centre?

No - Sunderland Royal Hospital is a designated Trauma Unit. It treats significant injuries and stabilises the most complex cases before transfer to a regional Major Trauma Centre.
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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