There has been a significant rise in people going to A&E for relatively minor conditions such as a blocked nose or cough, new figures show.
In the last five years, millions of people went to hospital for things like hiccups, sore throats and headaches.
For 2.2 million patients attending A&E in 2024/5, there was nothing noted as wrong with them at all, as ‘no abnormality was detected’.
In the same period, more than half a million people walked out before getting an initial diagnosis.
In the last five years, while visits for things like heart attacks have remained at similar levels, there has been a big rise in people attending for relatively minor complaints.
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For example, there were some 44,000 cases of ‘cough’ dealt with in 2020/21, but nearly ten times more in 2024/25, with 435,728 visits.
Why are more people going to A&E with coughs and colds?
The first thing to note is that just because a cough or headache sounds minor, it isn’t necessarily.
Coughs could be a sign of pneumonia, for example, while a sudden strong headache could be a sign of stroke – so if you feel you have severe symptoms of these, it’s not wrong to seek emergency care.
However, NHS England said a significant number of patients did go to A&E last winter for a variety of illnesses which could have been handled by GPs or pharmacists.
We shouldn’t just put the blame on patients going unnecessarily, however, said Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts.
He said: ‘Patients choosing to attend A&E for help with relatively simple conditions like earache lays bare a failure to give people enough access to convenient, responsive services closer to home where they can get the help they need there and then.
‘Our new year’s wish would be to see neighbourhood healthcare “turbocharged” to create many more primary care appointments, in communities and GP practices, to boost patients’ satisfaction with the NHS and ease pressure on busy A&Es.’
Tens of thousands more patients going to A&E for diarrhoea
One of the illnesses to see a jump in A&E attendances was diarrhoea, which saw 59,120 patients attending in 2020/21, but reached 143,646 by 2024/25.
A&E attendances rose from 40,962 to 70,933 for constipation, 211,266 to 396,724 for backache, 9,795 to 20,516 for nausea, and 587 to 1,093 for hiccups.
But the number of cardiac arrest cases stayed relatively steady, doiung from 10,293 logged in 2020/21, compared with 10,744 in 2024/25.
Likewise, the number of cases diagnosed in A&E as a broken hip was 43,646 in 2020/21 and 43,326 in 2024/25.
Winter pressures ramping up
Health officials have warned of a ‘tidal wave’ of winter illnesses sweeping the NHS.
Earlier in December, at least six hospitals declared critical incidents due to the numbers of people being admitted for flu, with people urged not to go to A&E unless it was a life-threatening emergency.
This is part of the reason health officials are keen to inform people about where else they can go for care, including pharmacies.
Dr Ian Higginson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said that while some of the conditions ‘may seem minor, there will be serious illness in some of the patients described’.
He went on: ‘However, as this data shows, people are arriving through the doors of our emergency departments (EDs) with issues that we would not traditionally consider as “urgent” and require emergency care.
‘This is a symptom of the healthcare system not working as it was designed to.
‘Just like our EDs, our colleagues in primary and community services are at capacity when their services are open, but those services often aren’t open when patients need them.
‘The system has also become unnecessarily complex and patients can struggle to figure it out.
‘If people are unable to access services, or they are unsure of other services available to help them, they will come to ED.’
‘We need better, clearer systems’
Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown, chairwoman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: ‘We need better, clearer systems to help patients navigate the NHS and get to the right place first time, and better resourced general practice so that we can alleviate pressure across the health service.’
National Pharmacy Association chief executive Henry Gregg said: ‘Pharmacists are highly trained health care professionals and can now supply prescription medicines on the NHS without the need for a GP appointment, for a range of common illnesses.’
An NHS England spokesperson said: ‘The last place a patient wants to be when they have a minor illness is a busy A&E – that’s why this winter NHS staff are working hard to expand the number of routes into the health service so patients can get fast and convenient care closer to them.’
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