When to Go to A&E in Lagos
The Symptoms That Cannot Wait for a Clinic Appointment

The Most Important Decision in Emergency Medical Care

In Lagos, the choice between going to a primary-care clinic like Mascot Healthcare or going directly to a hospital emergency department (A&E) is not always obvious. Making the wrong choice, either going to A&E for something manageable in primary care, or waiting for a clinic appointment when you need emergency care, can cost time that cannot be recovered.

This guide is direct and clear: here are the symptoms that require A&E, and here are the symptoms that are appropriate for Mascot Healthcare.

GO TO A&E IMMEDIATELY: Do Not Come to Mascot Healthcare First

Cardiovascular

• Severe crushing central chest pain, especially with sweating, arm pain, or jaw pain
• Sudden severe shortness of breath at rest with coughing of blood or leg swelling (pulmonary embolism)
• Heart rate above 150 or below 40 beats per minute with symptoms
• Collapse or loss of consciousness

Neurological

• Sudden facial drooping, arm weakness, or speech difficulty: FAST: Face, Arms, Speech, Time, stroke until proven otherwise
• The worst headache of your life, sudden onset (thunderclap headache), subarachnoid haemorrhage until proven otherwise
• Seizure lasting more than 5 minutes or repeated seizures without regaining consciousness
• Sudden loss of vision in one eye

Surgical and abdominal

• Severe, constant abdominal pain: not colicky, not related to position, especially if the abdomen is rigid
• Vomiting blood or passing large amounts of fresh blood from the back passage
• Sudden, severe one-sided scrotal pain in a young man, testicular torsion (6-hour window to save the testicle)
• Ruptured ectopic pregnancy: positive pregnancy test with one-sided pain and collapse

Obstetric

• Heavy vaginal bleeding in pregnancy (antepartum haemorrhage)
• Eclamptic convulsion in a pregnant woman
• Absent fetal movement for more than 12 hours in the third trimester

Paediatric

• Child under 3 months with any fever above 38°C
• A child with a non-blanching rash + fever (press a glass against it, if it doesn't fade, go immediately)
• A child with severe respiratory distress (ribs visible with every breath, lips turning blue)
• A child who is unresponsive or cannot be roused

COME TO MASCOT HEALTHCARE: These Are Right for a Clinic Appointment

• Fever, malaria symptoms, cough, cold, sore throat, same-day appointment
• Vaginal discharge, UTI, vaginal infection: same-day treatment
• Penile discharge, STI concerns: confidential, same day
• Blood tests (walk-in) and scans: pelvic, pregnancy, abdominal (by appointment), same-day report
• Chronic disease reviews (diabetes, hypertension, thyroid): regular monitoring
• Skin conditions, wounds, abscess: minor procedures same day
• Moderate abdominal pain with normal vital signs, assessment and investigation

When You Are Unsure

If you are unsure whether your symptoms are an emergency, treat them as one: go to the nearest hospital emergency department or call 112. Mascot Healthcare does not handle emergencies.

About this article: Written by the Mascot Healthcare clinical team. This article is reviewed annually and updated to reflect current guidelines and data.