Surge in people visiting A&E for headaches, blocked noses, hiccups and other minor ailments, medics warn: ‘The system isn’t working’

Millions are clogging up A&Es across the country with minor ailments including blocked noses and hiccups due to the GP appointment crisis, experts have warned. 

New figures reveal that A&E medics dealt with almost 1.9 million cases of people seeking help for a headache over the past five years alone.

A further 1.4 million A&E attendances in England in the same period were due to a cough and 1.2 million were for a sore throat.

Health service bosses warned that the persistent strain on primary care services — with patients routinely facing waits of more than a week to be seen — is forcing many to attend emergency units. 

Instead, patients with minor ailments should be managed through appropriate services, such as pharmacies and NHS 111 online, they urged.  

According to the analysis of NHS data by the PA news agency, one million A&E attendances were due to earache from 2020 to 2025.

There were almost 69,000 A&E attendances for a blocked nose, 4,200 for hiccups and 290,000 where the chief complaint was constipation.

Some 44,000 cases of ‘cough’ were dealt with in 2020/21 and the number has risen every year to reach 435,728 in 2024/25 – a near tenfold-increase.

There were 59,120 A&E attendances where the chief complaint was diarrhoea in 2020/21, rising each year to reach 143,591 by 2024/25.

A&E attendances also 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.

PA analysis shows that medics noted that ‘no abnormality was detected’ for 2.2 million A&E attendances in 2024/25, while more than half a million patients walked out before a first diagnosis was made.

It warning comes as medics warn of a ‘tidal wave’ of winter illnesses sweeping the health service. 

NHS England said a significant number of patients sought help last winter for a variety of illness which could have been handled by GPs or pharmacists. 

Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, 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.’

Latest NHS data shows there were 27.8million GP appointments in July but three in 10 patients waited more than a week for their consultation.

 

Less than half were on the same day (43.6 per cent), while around one in 20 had to wait more than a month.

Over two-thirds (68.3 per cent) were in-person. Most other appointments were conducted over the phone (26.5 per cent).

However, NHS data also shows that GPs are under huge pressure and treating a record number of people.

Family doctors are responsible for up 2,600 patients each in some areas, up from an average 1,900 in 2016.  

Dr Ian Higginson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: ‘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.’

The RCEM has previously warned difficulties in seeing a GP were leading to a crisis in emergency departments.

A report in October 2021 by the college also highlighted that the lack of GPs, which is leading to difficulties with access, is one of a number of factors contributing to increased demand.

‘Small deteriorations in the number of people accessing appropriate GP consultations have the potential to put great pressure on the urgent and emergency care system,’ it warned.

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.” 

Latest monthly performance data also shows the NHS waiting list grew by more than 100,000 between June and July.

The 7.68million toll marks the highest figures logged since NHS records began in August 2007 and a rise of nearly three quarters of a million (742,000) on July 2022.

For comparison, around 4.4million were stuck in the system when the pandemic reached the UK.

Separate NHS data for A&E also shows that patient care plummeted in August as emergency departments faced their busiest summer yet. 

GP patient satisfaction has too, as a result of the appointment crisis, plunged to its lowest level on record.

In recent months, patients have continually expressed their frustration over access to GP services, particularly regarding in person face-to-face appointments.

But why Brits are struggling with their surgeries is a complicated issue.

GPs say they overwhelmed due to the pressures of the rising and ageing population, a lack of government funding and a shortage of doctors.

Under recommendations implemented by the BMA and European Union of General Practitioners, GPs today should not deliver more than 25 appointments a day to ensure safe care.

But some doctors are reportedly having to cram in nearly 60 patients a day in some areas.

Ministers have also silently binned a promise to hire 6,000 more GPs, which was a major part of Boris Johnson’s election-winning manifesto.

Just 2,000 more family doctors have been recruited since 2019.

Worsening the staffing crisis is the fact that many current GPs are retiring in their 50s, moving abroad or leaving to work in the private sector because of soaring demand, NHS paperwork, and aggressive media coverage.

GP surgeries have also faced rising levels of harassment, assaults and verbal abuse targeted at staff in recent months.

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.

‘We have launched a campaign urging people to use the range of alternatives to A&E to get them the help they need in the most appropriate place – whether the services are online, over the phone or in-person.

‘As always, the public should use A&E and 999 for life-threatening conditions and serious injuries – and for non-life-threatening care, call NHS 111 or use 111 online, which can direct you to the most appropriate place – whether that be your local pharmacy, a walk-in centre or clinical self-help advice.’