Free A&E waiting-time widget
One line of HTML puts live A&E waiting times on your site. No account, no API key, no contract, and nothing to maintain.
The figures come from the same public NHS data this site uses, so the widget updates whenever we update. It is free to use, including commercially, and you can take it down whenever you like.
What you get
- A live strip showing the expected wait at the hospital you choose — or the three shortest waits near a postcode you supply.
- Updates itself. You paste the code once and never touch it again.
- Plain HTML in an
<iframe>. No JavaScript is required, and none is delivered inside the widget. - Light and dark themes, so it can sit on a light article page or a dark one.
- Accessible markup and a mobile-friendly layout down to 280 pixels wide.
What it doesn't do
- No cookies, and no tracking of your readers. We count page views of the widget itself, with no visitor identifier of any kind. You do not need to change your cookie notice or your privacy policy to embed this.
- No personal data leaves your page. A postcode you put in the embed code is used to choose which hospitals to show; it is never stored.
- No advertising, ever. Nothing in the widget is sponsored, and no hospital can pay to appear.
Build your embed code
Choose what the widget should show. The code below updates as you change these options.
Copy this into your site
Paste this anywhere you want the widget to appear:
<iframe src="https://waitingtime.co.uk/widget"
title="Live A&E waiting times"
width="100%" height="190"
style="border:0;max-width:420px"
loading="lazy"></iframe>
Height guide: 190px for one hospital, 230px for the
three-hospital list. Set width to whatever suits your layout —
the widget is responsive, and 100% is the usual choice.
Sizing and placement notes
- The widget is a fixed-height strip. It sizes to your container's width, so it works in a narrow sidebar or a full-width article body.
- A postcode embed shows the hospitals near that postcode, which is right for a local news site. A hospital embed is right when the article is about one trust.
- Ordering is by shortest expected wait, which factors in distance. A hospital further away only outranks a closer one when its wait is substantially shorter — the site never suggests driving past a nearer A&E for a marginal gain. In an emergency, go to the nearest one and call 999 if it is life-threatening.
- If a hospital has no figure yet, the widget says so plainly rather than showing a guess. We would rather show nothing than a made-up number.
Questions
Can I use it commercially? Yes. Local news sites, GP surgeries, councils, campaign groups and commercial publishers are all welcome.
Do I have to credit you? The widget always carries a small "waitingtime.co.uk" link, because a reader who wants the full picture should be able to find it. Please don't hide it.
What if the figures are wrong? They are estimates, assembled from official monthly performance figures and public reports, and every hospital page links back to the original NHS source. It is a signposting tool, not medical advice — in an emergency, call 999.
Can I change how it looks? Light and dark are the options for now. If you need something specific for a large placement, get in touch and we'll see.