Surge in Minor Ailment Attendances Puts Pressure on NHS A&E Services
An analysis by PA Media reveals a significant increase in Accident and Emergency (A&E) attendances for minor ailments in England between 2020 and 2025, highlighting ongoing challenges with prompt access to primary care.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, around 1.4 million attendances were due to coughs, with 435,728 in 2024-25 alone. Hiccups cases rose from 587 to 1,093 in the same period. Other frequent minor ailments recorded over five years include headaches (approximately 1.9 million), earache (about 1 million), sore throat (around 1.2 million), backache (396,724), constipation (290,000), diarrhoea (143,591), and blocked nose (69,000).
Meanwhile, serious emergencies showed relative stability: cardiac arrest attendances were 10,293 in 2020-21 and 10,744 in 2024-25, while broken hip attendances were 43,646 and 43,326 respectively. Additionally, in 2024-25, 2.2 million A&E visits revealed no abnormality detected, with over 500,000 patients leaving before receiving a first diagnosis.
NHS Providers chief executive Daniel Elkeles called for accelerated expansion of neighbourhood healthcare services and more primary care appointments to alleviate the strain on A&E departments. Dr Ian Higginson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, stated that the current health system was not designed to cope with the demand, emphasizing that primary and community services are at capacity or unavailable when urgently needed.
In response, NHS England confirmed efforts to broaden access to care closer to home, encouraging patients to use alternatives to A&E for non-life-threatening conditions, including online services, telephone advice, GP practices, and pharmacies.
The Department of Health and Social Care acknowledged that while there is a long journey ahead to resolve NHS challenges, progress is ongoing by shifting care from hospitals into community settings, increasing funding for community pharmacy services, and establishing more community diagnostic centres with extended hours including evenings and weekends.
