Latest report
9 hr
12 Oct 08:44
Average
10 hr 47 min
3 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

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

Contact & location
Queen Victoria Road, New Victoria Wing, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 4LP
Switchboard: 0191 233 6161
Opening times
MondayOpen 24 hours
TuesdayOpen 24 hours
WednesdayOpen 24 hours
ThursdayOpen 24 hours
FridayOpen 24 hours
SaturdayOpen 24 hours
Sunday TodayOpen 24 hours
Getting here
Metro / tram
Haymarket (Tyne and Wear Metro Station)6 min walk to A&E
St James (Tyne and Wear Metro Station)9 min walk to A&E
Monument (Tyne and Wear Metro Station)11 min walk to A&E
Jesmond (Tyne and Wear Metro Station)12 min walk to A&E
Manors (Tyne and Wear Metro Station)15 min walk to A&E
Bus stops
4 routes·2 operators·5 stops within walking distance
RVI Hospital (north-east)2 min walk to A&E
HGo-AheadNewcastle upon Tyne ↔ High Heaton
RVI Hospital Grounds (E-Bound, eastbound)3 min walk to A&E
HGo-AheadNewcastle upon Tyne ↔ High Heaton
Rvi-Dental Hospital (NW-Bound, north-west)3 min walk to A&E
32StagecoachWalkergate ↔ Kenton Bar
32AStagecoachWalkergate ↔ Kenton Bar
36StagecoachNewcastle upon Tyne ↔ Slatyford
RVI-Queen Victoria Road (NE-Bound, north-east)3 min walk to A&E
Rvi-Dental Hospital (SE-Bound, south-east)3 min walk to A&E
32StagecoachKenton Bar ↔ Walkergate
32AStagecoachKenton Bar ↔ Walkergate
36StagecoachSlatyford ↔ Newcastle upon Tyne
Plan journey by public transport
What’s available here
Accessibility
Braille Translation ServiceDisabled ParkingDisabled WcInduction LoopSigning Service AvailableWheelchair Access
Accommodation
Access To TvFamily AccommodationMobile Phones PermittedPublic TelephoneSingle Sex Accommodation Only
Parking
Car ParkingCycle ParkingDisabled Parking
Children Facilities
Baby Changing FacilityChildren's Play AreaParent And Baby Room
Counselling and Support
Bereavement SupportTranslation Services
Faith Services
On-Site ChapelPrayer Area
Food and Amenities
CafePharmacyShop
Recent visitor feedbackreported by visitors
Overall
50% would recommend this department
Staff
76% say staff were friendly and helpful
65% were not kept informed about their wait
53% say triage was slow
Environment
67% say the waiting area was clean
80% say the toilets were clean
62% felt safe in the waiting area
Family
69% say there is no children’s play area
71% say there is a separate children’s waiting area
Facilities
60% say there is not enough seating
80% say there is a TV in the waiting area
50% say there is nowhere to get food or drink
60% say there are phone charging points
86% say free WiFi is available
67% say mobile signal is poor
Parking
38% found parking easily
Payment accepted: card, cash
Based on 18 visitor responses in the last 6 months. This information is collected through a short anonymous survey shown to visitors on this page.
Visitor experiencesshared by visitors

“2 hours and 45 minutes for first assessment for Chest related pain”

Joynal · 1 month ago

About The Royal Victoria Infirmary

The Royal Victoria Infirmary runs a 24-hour accident and emergency department, open to under 16 years, at Queen Victoria Road, New Victoria Wing, Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, part of The Newcastle Upon Tyne 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 45 listed departments and services, from Allergy services in hospital to Stroke.

The Care Quality Commission rates it Requires Improvement, last inspected in January 2023. It rated the hospital's urgent and emergency services Requires Improvement when they were last inspected in January 2024. The site lists 1,670 parking spaces, 98 of them designated disabled bays, with patient parking averaging £2.00 an hour. In our visitor surveys, 76% found staff friendly and helpful and 67% said the waiting area was clean. Visitors also report that children get a separate waiting area.

Official NHS performance

56.1%seen within 4 hours
12,694attendances in September 2026
60.4%England average for major A&Es

NHS England publishes these figures for The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals 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, 74% of 943 patients who responded at this site reported a positive experience. The trust's general and acute wards averaged 86.3% 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
2023-24145,72612,14460.9%476
2024-25145,86012,15560.1%499
2025-26146,95512,24660.7%495
2026-27 (6 months)73,04512,17457.6%74

Between 2023-24 and 2025-26, monthly A&E attendances stayed broadly flat and the share seen within four hours changed little.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check the current A&E wait time at The Royal Victoria Infirmary?

The live waiting time for the A&E at The Royal Victoria Infirmary 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 The Royal Victoria Infirmary 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 The Royal Victoria Infirmary 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 The Royal Victoria Infirmary is doing right now. NHS England's most recent figures (September 2026) show 56.1% 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 The Royal Victoria Infirmary recently, submitting your wait takes a few seconds and helps others plan.

Is the A&E at The Royal Victoria Infirmary open 24 hours?

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

Where is The Royal Victoria Infirmary and how do I get there?

The Royal Victoria Infirmary is at Queen Victoria Road, New Victoria Wing, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 4LP. For general enquiries call 0191 233 6161. Enter your postcode in the Getting here section for a door-to-door route.

Is parking free at The Royal Victoria Infirmary?

No - patient and visitor parking here averages about £2.00 an hour (NHS estates return, 2024-25). The site lists 1,670 parking spaces, including 98 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 The Royal Victoria Infirmary?

The Royal Victoria Infirmary 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 2023. It rated the hospital's urgent and emergency services Requires Improvement when they were last inspected in January 2024. You can read the full CQC report.

Can children be treated at The Royal Victoria Infirmary 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 The Royal Victoria Infirmary a Major Trauma Centre?

Yes - The Royal Victoria Infirmary 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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