About our live A&E waiting times

Where to find our live A&E waiting times

You can find the Live A&E waiting times on our homepage.

If you're not sure what to do

If you need medical advice or treatment but you're not sure whether you need to go to a pharmacy, GP, Minor Injuries and Illness Unit or A&E? Visit 111 for guidance.

About our A&Es

Our live A&E waits show times for both Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General Emergency Departments (A&Es).

• Gloucestershire Royal A&E provides 24 hour emergency care, including 999 ambulances, GP referrals, children's emergencies, minor injuries and illnesses, and maternity care
• Cheltenham A&E has a consultant-led Emergency Department from 8am-8pm and a nurse-led Minor Injuries and Illness Unit (MIIU) from 8pm-8am.

For patients attending Cheltenham A&E

There are different options to provide the best and most appropriate care. These may include:

• Being seen, investigated and treated at Cheltenham General Hospital (CGH) Emergency Department/ MIIU
• Having an initial assessment in CGH Emergency Department/ MIIU with treatment completed elsewhere - including:
  • Gloucestershire Royal Hospital Emergency Department
  • Another community MIIU
  • Same-Day Emergency Care (at Cheltenham or Gloucester)
  • Out-of-Hours GP
  • Directed to return to an outpatient clinic at a later date

Patients may be redirected to any of these options when they first arrive at the department by one of our nursing team if care needs may be better served by an alternate route.

Taking children to A&E

If your child (age 16 or under) is unwell and needs urgent care, our specialist children's services are based at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

Emergency services for children in Gloucestershire

Coming to A&E by ambulance

All ambulances will take your child to A&E at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

Bringing your child to A&E yourself

Please be aware that there are no specialist children's services at the A&E at Cheltenham General Hospital, except between 8am – 8pm when children with minor illness and injury only can be seen.

Alternatives to A&E

Minor injury and illness

There are 6 minor injury and illness units (MIIUs) across the county.

• Tewkesbury
• Cirencester
• Stroud
• Dursley (the Vale)
• North Cotswolds
• Forest of Dean Community Hospital

MIIUs can provide emergency contraception, and they can also treat conditions such as:

• sprains
• simple fractures
• simple wounds
• minor burns
• minor head injuries
• skin and eye problems
• minor illnesses, like sore throats and earaches

They cannot treat serious injuries and illness, like overdoses, alcohol-related problems and head injuries with loss of consciousness.

You can arrange to visit an MIIU by:

• calling 0300 421 777 and speaking to the triage clinician
• making an appointment by calling 111

You can find their addresses and contact details the Gloucestershire Health and Care website.

Mental health crisis

If you or someone you know needs help in a mental health crisis, call the crisis team on 0800 169 0398 and choose:

• option 1 for Stroud and the Cotswolds
• option 2 for Gloucester and the Forest of Dean
• option 3 for Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and North Cotswolds

The number is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Occasionally, callers may be asked to leave their name and number on an answerphone. In these circumstances, staff will return the call within one hour.

If you need help but are not in crisis, please contact your GP if in opening hours, or 111. If there is an immediate danger to life, please call 999 or visit the nearest Accident and Emergency Department.

You can find out more information on the Gloucestershire Health and Care website.

What our live waiting times mean

The 'average time to be seen by a doctor or nurse' is based on the average time for patients to be seen in the last hour and reflects the wait to full assessment by a clinician.