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Early Pregnancy Unit (EPAU)

How to contact us

Telephone: 01553 613567

Opening times

Monday to Friday 8.00am – 5.30pm excluding Bank Holidays

Saturday and Sunday - closed

How to find us

The Early Pregnancy Unit is a small, busy outpatient clinic located in The Emerson Unit of The Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Specialist early pregnancy care is provided up to 16 weeks gestation for women experiencing acute concerns with their pregnancy, such as pain and/or bleeding. We also provide early pregnancy care for people who have previously experienced ectopic pregnancy/pregnancy of unknown location, gestational trophoblastic disease or recurrent pregnancy loss.

Referrals

The Early Pregnancy Unit operates a telephone triage and referral system. If you have concerns, please ring. Following triage by an appropriately trained member of staff, you may be given advice and informed that attendance is not necessary.

Alternatively, you may be asked to attend the Emergency Department (ED) or your GP for further assessment or referred for advice to your midwife. We are unable to accept self-referrals for symptomatic patients.

When EPAU is closed, if your query is not an emergency, we ask you to contact your GP for advice/assessment. If you are unsure, you are recommended to contact NHS Direct (111) in the first instance and you may be appropriately referred either to the Emergency Department or to the Out of Hours (OOH) GP.

If you are asked to attend The Early Pregnancy Unit, you will not receive a letter, email or text. Please attend at the time and date given to you on the phone or as advised by your GP/midwife.

On arrival

Please check in with the receptionist. You will initially be assessed by a nurse before your ultrasound scan or blood test. The nurse will advise you of the outcome and plan for any on-going care. Your care may require referral to a doctor for further assessment and examination if required.

Your appointment

We endeavour to see you in a timely manner. However, depending on the number of patients being seen, there may be a delay due to clinical urgency. We will ensure this is communicated to you.

We have limited space in the waiting room area and politely ask you to only bring one person with you to the clinic for support. Please note this is not an appropriate environment to bring children with you.

What happens next

Your on-going care may be one of the following:

  • Discharge with no further follow up required
  • Discharge with follow up for treatment or monitoring – you will be given an appointment for this before you leave the clinic.
  • Discharge with follow up over the telephone – you will be given an approximate timeframe for the telephone call.
  • Discharge back to the care of your GP or midwife.
  • Admission to Elm Ward/Surgical Assessment Unit (SAU) for further care/treatment.