What counts as an emergency for A&E?

I'd say a severely dehydrated and fatigued pregnant woman is an emergency. There's a risk to the baby and to the mother... who cares what she said you did your best for you and baby in the moment.

I agree they would but they send you in not via a&e in a lot of areas. Dd has frequently been sent straight to hospital from the gp and goes straight to a medical assessment ward and will get IVs, etc.

but I appreciate if you can’t get a same day gp appt and are ill that doesn’t help.

Sadly, 111 don't always tell you to go to A&E. They told me on Christmas Eve to see my GP after the holiday. I was so unwell that I went to A&E anyway, spent a night there on morphine, had emergency surgery on Christmas morning and more emergency surgery on New Year's Eve!

I went to A&E with severe diarrhoea on the face of not serious but it had been going on for 3 weeks, first GP told me it was a reaction to anti biotics then I was told it was a virus, my husband came home from work and found me semi conscious so we went to A&E we were thrown out by the Triage Nurse without even seeing a doctor, luckily I was able to get a GP appointment the next day and was sent straight back to A&E turns out I had SEPSIS I could have died

Absolutely A&E OP. You did the right thing here.

My doctor's surgery won't do anything useful like they used to any more, like rehydration/dress burns/deal with minor wounds/strap up sprains etc. which are all basic things that can be dealt with by the practice nurse and 111 is beyond useless (I will never use 111 again) so in my neck if the woods it's minor injuries or A&E for most things outside routine blood tests!

In many areas the GP could refer direct to the gynae assessment unit

The nurse shouldn't have made those comments; she didn't see you on that day.

I've had two admissions to A&E recently. The ffirst was because of tingling an me right foot and had, together with losing balance. Rang 111, referred to OOH doctor. Told to get a taxi in, not possible till next day. IV, bloodpressure pills.
Week later, fell in the night, couldn't get up, friend couldn't get me up. Following advice from previously with his mother, called the ambulance, lots of tests, into A&E, more pills. No-one complained. Mind you, the followup check fromtheGP hasn't materialised.

Ignore the nurse, it was important to be seen asap

And if you'd seen your GP first they'd have sent you to hospital, probably via A&E.

Was the nurse newly qualified I wonder or has never worked in ED before..?!

A quick google as I wasn't sure I understood what HG was says it often needs hospital treatment. If you're suffering with it outwith GP hours and/or cannot get hold of a GP then A&E is where you need to go.

Local A&E has a triage system at the door so those who don't need it get sent on elsewhere.

*I don't think I meant MAU... I meant whatever the emergency pregnancy unit is called :)

I had similar and was sent by GP (in person appointment and everything) to A&E as GP can't administer IV and I wasn't far enough along for MAU.

HG is definitely an emergency

Im 10 weeks and had awful sickness. In my first midwife appointment she said to me if it gets really bad to go to A&E for a drip and intravenous antisickness.

Fortunately I’ve only have about five days where I’ve not been able to keep any food or liquids down but they weren’t consecutive days.

Last Friday was a particular low point for me in which I told my husband to take me to a&e in the morning if my sickness had t improved - fortunately it did and I didn’t have to go but a&e is absolutely there for bad HG.

It is also for broken bones, head injuries, eye injuries, cuts that require stitches, as well as unexplained things that could be life threatening e.g symptoms of appendicitis or ectopic pregnancy.

It is not only for the most serious things, it is also for 'things that will become more serious if not treated quickly'.

I’ve had HG and usually referred to EPU via call to the GP a fair few times (I had it the whole pregnancy) Except the weekend when EPU wasn’t available with my second pregnancy and I was advised to go to a&e at the weekend and urine checked which showed quite quickly I needed fluids!

Good luck with rest of pregnancy HG is horrible!

But you didn't make the decision to turn up at A&E. You called 111, were assessed, and advised to do so.

You did the right thing, and she shouldn't be passing casual judgement.

In an ideal world, no you wouldn't go to A&E with HG. Your lovely GP would see you and refer you straight to the gynae ward for fluid / meds.
Alas, that doesn't happen because a) it's impossible to get a GP appointment and b) quite often GPs are unsympathetic to the plight of a HG sufferer and won't accept how ill you could be.
I was sent home from GP with HG having been told off for not drinking enough. I collapsed when we got home so DH drove me to A&E. Once they'd run some tests, they discovered that my potassium levels were so low, I needed treatment immediately as my heart was at risk. If I'd gone home and stayed there, I'd have been dead by teatime.
So yeah, go to A&E.

TBF, 111 tell you to go to A&E no matter what in my experience.

If 111 told you to go to A and E you go to A and E. If they thought you should go to a GP or minor injuries unit they would have told you that. I don't know what the nurse expected you to do - ignore the advice from 111 when you called them for advice?

Who knows what an emergency is though? I think what op was suffering does sound like a medical emergency which could have affected both her and her unborn baby. Wasn't Kate Middleton hospitalised with that during at least one of her pregnancies so she could have IV fluids?

I was in a&e a few weeks back with a broken arm. In the next bed I overheard someone being assessed for what appeared to be a viral infection. It didn't appear serious to me, but when my mum was receiving chemotherapy, we had to take her to a&e for similar because the chemotherapy can destroy the white blood cells used for fighting infections. Other drugs can do similar eg clozaril for schizophrenia. Or he may have had brittle asthma or something, so without knowing the facts, I can't judge.

That’s more the criteria for calling an ambulance.

Ours would send to GP or if no appts one of the other gps in the practice group.
If no GP appts at all then next would be walk in urgent care,

GP or UC might result in a referral to a and e but more likely a referral to EPU which means being seen faster.

Maternity triage might be a better place. You might be seen quicker for a start. My waters broke early with DD2 and I had to stay in 2 nights. There were three other women in the room with me and two were in with HG and had come through maternity triage. I imagine it was a more pleasant environment that a&e as well.

But I don't think a&e is the wrong place to go either.

You needed IV fluids, a GP would not do that - they'd send you into hospital straight away so you did the right thing.