Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital: A Practical Guide

Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital on Northumbria Way in East Cramlington is the specialist emergency hospital run by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which serves Northumberland and North Tyneside. It opened in June 2015. At the time, NHS England described it as the first purpose-built hospital of its kind in the country, dedicated to emergency care every day of the week.

This guide is practical information only, drawn from the Trust's own pages and the NHS website and checked in November 2026. It is not medical advice. If you are worried about your health or someone else's, follow the guidance below on who to contact.

Best for:

In a life-threatening emergency, call 999. If you are not sure what to do, NHS 111 can help you decide, online at 111.nhs.uk or by phone on 111.

When to go to A&E, and when not to

The NHS says A&E is for serious injuries and life-threatening emergencies, and that 999 is for life-threatening emergencies such as serious road traffic accidents, strokes and heart attacks. The Trust lists the kinds of problem its emergency department treats, including suspected stroke, loss of consciousness, persistent severe chest pain, sudden shortness of breath, severe stomach pain and severe blood loss. It has emergency consultants on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Patients in A&E are seen in order of clinical need, not in the order they arrive. The Trust advises calling 111 before attending, and says that for problems that are urgent but not serious, an urgent treatment centre may be quicker.

For anything less serious, there are other places to turn:

• NHS 111. Use the online service at 111.nhs.uk for anyone aged five or over, or call 111 for children under five. NHS 111 can tell you where to go, help when you cannot reach your GP, and arrange an emergency supply of your regular medicines through a pharmacy. Text relay users can call 18001 111, and a British Sign Language service is available.
• Urgent treatment centres. The Trust runs urgent treatment centres at Wansbeck General Hospital in Ashington, Hexham General Hospital and North Tyneside General Hospital in North Shields, for problems such as minor injuries, sprains and skin infections. Check the Trust's website or ask NHS 111 for current opening hours.
• Your GP practice. For ongoing or non-urgent problems, contact your own GP surgery.
• A pharmacy. Under the NHS Pharmacy First service, you can walk into a participating pharmacy, with no appointment or referral, for advice and treatment for seven common conditions.

Getting there

The hospital is at Northumbria Way, Cramlington, NE23 6NZ. By car, the Trust says it is reached from the A189 at East Cramlington, just north of the Moor Farm roundabout, and is signposted from the slip roads.

The Trust's own pages do not list bus routes. Instead they point you to Traveline and the Nexus live bus map for up-to-date times. Our guide to getting around Cramlington without a car lists the buses that serve the hospital stop at the time of writing. The Trust says Go North East and Arriva both run services, and that Tyne and Wear and Northumberland concessionary bus passes can be used for hospital appointments before 9.30am.

There is bike storage between the visitor car park and the bus stop.

If you need help getting to an appointment for medical reasons, the Trust's patient transport booking line is 0191 215 1515. It also lists a volunteer car service for relatives travelling from further afield: from Hexham on 01434 655388, and from Berwick on 01289 356664 or 07774 788627.

Parking

Visitor parking is charged, with the first 30 minutes free. At the time of writing, the Trust lists these charges:

Take a ticket on the way in and pay at a machine before you leave. The machines take coins, notes and cards. The car parks use number-plate recognition cameras and parking charge notices are issued, so make sure you pay.

There are free 20-minute drop-off lay-bys for dropping someone off, and Blue Badge holders can park free in the marked bays. Parking concessions are available in some circumstances and are issued by the ward manager, so ask on the ward. There is also electric vehicle charging on site. For parking elsewhere in town, see where to park in Cramlington.

Visiting

The Trust's visiting guidance at the time of writing is:

• Wards: 10am to 8pm every day, with up to two visitors at a bedside at a time. Ward 16, the postnatal ward, has different arrangements.
• A&E, urgent treatment centres and outpatients: one companion per patient, with no set times. The Trust advises against bringing children into A&E.
• Video visiting: available if you cannot be there in person.

Please do not bring flowers, and do not visit if you are unwell yourself. Use the hand gel provided. The hospital site is smokefree, though the Trust says e-cigarettes may be used in the grounds but not inside.

Visiting rules can change at short notice, for example during an outbreak, so check the Trust's website before you travel.

Food, drink and facilities

The Bright coffee shop by the main entrance opens from 8am to 6pm on weekdays and from 10.30am to 5.30pm at weekends. The restaurant serves breakfast from 7am to 10.45am and lunch from 11.30am to 4.30pm. There is free NHS Wi-Fi across the hospital.

Useful numbers

• Main switchboard: 0344 811 8111
• Appointments: 0344 811 8118
• Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS): 0800 032 0202
• Patient transport booking: 0191 215 1515

More from Cramlington.live

If you are visiting someone and need a break, Northumberlandia is a short drive across town, with a cafe and an accessible path. For time out further afield, see our best days out from Cramlington, and if you are new to the town, our guide to moving to Cramlington covers GP surgeries, schools and more. If someone close to you has died at the hospital, our guide to what to do when someone dies in Cramlington explains the next steps, from the medical examiner to registering the death.

Spotted something that has changed? Get in touch and we'll update the guide.