Royal London Hospital
London · E1 1FR · data via Barts Health NHS Trust
Locals may know it as: The London, RLH, Whitechapel Hospital
Time in department now
No live feed
Estimated wait: ~3 hr 15 min
61% done within 4 hrs · September 2026
Primary source: Barts Health NHS Trust — published waiting times
About this department
The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel, East London, and is the flagship hospital of Barts Health NHS Trust, the largest NHS trust in England. Founded in 1740, it is one of the oldest hospitals in the country. The hospital is a major trauma centre for North East London and a specialist centre for emergency medicine, neurosurgery, and helicopter emergency services (London's Air Ambulance is based on the roof). The Emergency Department handles over 130,000 attendances annually, making it one of the busiest A&E departments in the UK. The hospital moved into a new state-of-the-art building in 2012.
Getting there & getting in touch
- Town / postcode
- London, E1 1FR
- Switchboard
- 020 7377 7000
- Hours
- Open: 24 hours, 7 days a week
- Run by
- Barts Health NHS Trust
- Service level
- Full A&E (Type 1 emergency department)
On-site services
How this compares locally
There's no recent reading for Royal London Hospital. Check back shortly, or ring the trust for the current picture.
Not sure A&E is the right door? Read this first →Quick answers for Royal London Hospital
What's the current wait at Royal London Hospital?
No live figure is being published for Royal London Hospital at the moment. It's worth refreshing later, or phoning the hospital before travelling if timing matters to you.
Is the A&E at Royal London Hospital open right now?
Yes — this A&E never closes. It runs 24 hours a day every day of the year, with no appointment needed; arrivals are triaged and treated in order of clinical urgency.
Would somewhere other than Royal London Hospital treat me faster?
Quite possibly, if your problem isn't life-threatening. Urgent treatment centres and minor injuries units around London handle sprains, cuts, minor burns and simple fractures with far shorter queues. The nearby-departments panel on this page shows live figures for the closest options, and 111 can book timed slots at some of them.
Where exactly is Royal London Hospital?
It's in London (E1 1FR). Pop your own postcode into our distance search to see how far it is from you compared with the other departments nearby.
When does this A&E tend to be calmest?
Across the UK the pattern is consistent: the lightest traffic is between roughly 6am and 9am, and the heaviest crunch lands on Monday mornings, weekday evenings, and Friday and Saturday nights. If your condition can safely wait for a quieter window, an early start usually pays off.
Could you be seen sooner?
Homerton Urgent Treatment Centre
3.5 km · UTC
St Thomas' Hospital
4.7 km
University College Hospital
5.5 km
King's College Hospital
6.1 km
Newham Hospital
6.4 km
What the labels mean
Worth reading first
Don't wait on a webpage
If someone is seriously unwell — chest pain, stroke signs, heavy bleeding, struggling to breathe — call 999 immediately instead of comparing queues.