Healthcare experts are raising alarms as emergency rooms across the nation become inundated with patients suffering from minor issues like stuffy noses and hiccups. This surge is attributed to difficulties in securing timely appointments with general practitioners.

Recent data highlights that emergency departments have handled nearly 1.9 million cases related to headaches over the past five years. This overwhelming influx is compounded by an additional 1.4 million visits for coughs and 1.2 million for sore throats during the same period.

Health officials are pointing to the ongoing pressures on primary care services, where patients often face delays exceeding a week for an appointment. This situation is driving many to seek care in emergency rooms instead of more appropriate settings.

Authorities urge individuals with less severe conditions to utilize services like pharmacies and NHS 111 online for guidance and treatment. This approach could alleviate the burden on emergency departments and ensure more efficient care for all patients.

An analysis conducted by PA news agency of NHS data from 2020 to 2025 reveals that earaches alone accounted for one million visits to emergency departments, underscoring the critical need for alternative care pathways for minor ailments.

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.

Fresh analysis of NHS data shows cases where sore throat was the chief complaint rose 77 per cent between 2021/22 and 2022/23, from 191,900 cases to 340,441. Health service bosses today said that the ‘persistent strain on primary care services including GPs’ — with patients routinely being told they face a wait of more than a week to be seen — is leaving many patients resorting to attending emergency units 

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 figures suggest more than a fifth of patients cannot get through to their GP on the day they try. 

 
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.” 

According to latest NHS monthly performance data, over 54,000 people who attended England’s emergency departments in October waited at least 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged. 

Under three quarters of emergency department attendees (74.1 per cent) were seen within four hours in October.

The Government and NHS England have set a target of March 2026 for 78 per cent of patients attending A&E to be admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours.

Earlier this week, a damning investigation also found that a record number of patients face ‘degrading’ 12-hour trolley waits in A&E this year.

Analysis of NHS England figures, by the Liberal Democrats, also showed that 23 NHS trusts have seen increases of 12-hour A&E waits in excess of 100,000 per cent since 2016.

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.

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.’