Number of asthma sufferers visiting A&E at least five times a year surges, analysis shows

The number of people going to hospital emergency departments five times a year or more for breathing issues like asthma has risen by almost a quarter in the last year.

Analysis of NHS England figures by Asthma + Lung UK found there were just over 42,000 visits to A&E in 2023/24 for breathing issues where the patient had gone to emergency five or more times within a year, a 22.9 per cent rise on the previous 12 months.

Nearly half (45 per cent) of people who sought emergency treatment for asthma and 58 per cent of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had repeat admissions.

Despite the rise, nearly half (49 per cent) of the 3,428 patients polled by the foundation said they were not offered follow-up appointments for their condition, and 55 per cent said better access to their GP would have helped them avoid A&E.

Dr Sharada Gudur, a consultant respiratory physician in Lancashire, said: “Lung health in this country is in a critical state, and if urgent action isn’t taken, it will need resuscitation.

“The challenges are deep-rooted, but they simply cannot be ignored.”

Dr Gudur said these problems were particularly bad in England’s north-west, as the Asthma + Lung UK analysis showed.

Asthma + Lung UK pointed out new guidelines stated that if someone had gone to emergency they needed a follow-up appointment with an asthma expert, and have their treatment reviewed once a year.

The foundation said if those guidelines were followed, there would be a drop in A&E presentations as well as asthma deaths, which have increased by 25 per cent in the last decade.

Asthma + Lung UK chief executive Sarah Sleet acknowledged the NHS couldn’t be fixed in one go, but said that no one should end up stuck in A&E, “fighting for breath, simply because their basic care has been neglected”. The organisation is calling on people to ask their local MP to stand up for lung health.

“People with lung conditions should not have to battle just to get a diagnosis and effective treatment. We need to turn the dial on sickness by taking a long-term, cohesive approach to prevention,” she said.

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said the government was committed to improving diagnostic services, including for lung disease, and has made progress on cutting waiting lists.

“As part of the Plan for Change, we want to shift from sickness to prevention, so fewer patients have to go to A&E and those who do are treated quickly and with dignity,” the spokesperson said.

“We are taking firm action to tackle the harms of smoking, which is the leading risk factor of lung cancer, through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill which is the biggest public health intervention in a generation and will put us on track towards a smoke-free UK.”

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Leah Campbell ended up in emergency four times last year, struggling to breathe through serious asthma attacks.

“It feels like you suffocating. It's quite torturous,” she said of the experiences which left her often in a state of panic because it was so difficult to breathe.

“It's like I'm trying to breathe through a straw, and it's like someone sat on you, and you're trying to take the biggest breath you can, but it's like you can't.”

Ms Campbell, 27, has had asthma for all her life, and has had serious hospital visits in the past as well - including a stay in intensive care.

While she is finally on a treatment that seems to be working well, Ms Campbell said it was frustrating that it took multiple hospital visits and admissions to get the appropriate care for her asthma.

“When I was finally referred to the respiratory clinic, who were great, it almost felt like, why is it taking this hospital admission to finally get that?” she said.

“I've been critically unwell quite a number of times in my life now because of it, and it is terrifying to always think, Am I ever going to come out of hospital, or is it going to finally get you this time?’”