Seriously ill or poorly
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Have you got a life-threatening or medical emergency?
These are emergency conditions - do not book a GP appointment - do not delay
999 page Ring 999 A&E pageRing 999 for any of the following |
Go to A&E for any of the following |
| Anaphylactic shock (severe allergy) | Abdominal pain, severe, sudden |
| Bleeding from any sources, heavy or prolonged | Blindness, sudden, one or both eyes |
| Breathlessness, severe, or stopped breathing or colour change | Breathlessness, moderate to severe |
| Burns or scalds, severe | Broken bones (for minor fractures attend an urgent treatment centre) |
| Chest pain, suspected heart attack | Floppy (unresponsive), feverish baby |
| Choking | Head injury, with any symptoms (e.g., loss of consciousness, vomiting, drowsiness) |
| Drowning | Lethargic (drowsy), feverish child |
| Fits, seizure or uncontrollable shaking | Nose bleed, not stopping after 30 minutes |
| Hypothermia (drop in body temperature) | Overdose of medication, poisoning, accidental or intentional |
| Lacerations (knife wounds, cuts), deep | Swallowed sharp or long object or button battery |
| Low blood sugar (hypo/hypoglycaemia) not responding to sugar | |
| Meningitis, suspected | |
| Paralysis (inability to move) | |
| Self-harm or suicide, imminent risk | |
| Stroke, suspected(sudden weakness of arms, legs or inability to speak properly) | |
| Unconscious, or fluctuating levels of consciousness |
Have you got symptoms of serious ill-health?
Please review this table. If you have mostly symptoms indicating you might be seriously ill, please contact us.
This page cannot list all possible symptoms that might indicate serious illness. If you are unsure or concerned that you might be or are becoming seriously ill, please contact us.
Less likely to be seriously ill |
More likely to be seriously ill |
| Carrying out all or most normal activities, e.g., home life, work, going to school, sporting activity | Stopped doing most things, e.g., chores, getting out of bed, going out |
| Responsive to talking / commands / gestures, playful, interested | Unresponsive, uninterested, uncommunicative |
| Easily roused, awake, mobilising | Difficult to rouse, drowsy, lethargic, floppy |
| Orientated (knows where one is), alert | Disorientated, confused |
| Condition largely unchanged from normal | General condition rapidly worsening |
| Had condition a long time (months/years) without change, stable | Condition suddenly come on (hours / days / weeks), active worsening of existing long-term condition |
| Normal temperature, or mild temperature | High temperature, or not coming down with paracetamol / ibuprofen |
| No chills, shakes, shivers | Continual chills, shakes and shivers affecting entire body |
| No vomiting or sporadic vomiting | Persistent vomiting |
| Drinking and peeing as normal | Not drinking much and/or peeing much less than usual, or more than 6 hours since last pee |
| Eating as normal or slightly less than usual | Not eating anything at all, even junk food |
| Breathing normally, or slightly faster than usual | Rapid breathing, gasping or struggling for air, hunching shoulders to breathe, or sucking in skin under / between ribs or in notch in neck |
| No pain or pain levels up to 4 or 5 out of 10, can still sleep with pain and do most things | Severe pain (7+ out of 10), pain scores approaching 9 or 10, pain stopping sleep NB: 9/10 = excrutiatingly unbearable, can't speak, moaning, delirium 10/10 = unconscious, bedridden, passed out |
| On the palliative care or end of life register |
Is my child poorly?
These might be helpful in determining if your child is poorly
If you are worried about your child, please contact us. Our poorly child leaflet might be helpful if you are unsure.
If you have no internet access, please ask for a copy of our 'How can I tell if my child is poorly?' leaflet from our reception desk.
Is your baby or toddler seriously ill? Fever in children Looking after a sick child How can I tell if my child is poorly? leaflet When should I worry? leaflet HANDi App poster HANDi App (Apple) HANDi App (Android) What to do when your child is unwell posterDo you need to see us sooner rather than later?
If you have any of these symptoms, you are advised to contact us earlier
Having any of these symptoms does not necessarily indicate the need for same day assessment; if we are full for the day, the doctor on duty will assess your call and act accordingly.
If you are worried about cancer, please check our cancer red flags page.
Symptoms indicating a sooner appointment with us |
| Bleeding from any orifice, including coughing up or vomiting blood, especially if recurrent or persistent - please note, for ongoing bleeding from any orifice that is not stopping, please ring 999 or attend A&E |
| Change in bowel habit, persistent, especially if looser stools |
| Cough, persistent, longer than 3-4 weeks |
| Deafness, one-sided, sudden onset |
| Difficulty swallowing |
| Eye pain (with no foreign body) - if foreign body, please attend an urgent treatment centre |
| Hoarseness, persistent, longer than 3 weeks |
| Jaundice (yellow skin) |
| Lumps, new, where there shouldn't be, e.g., abdomen, armpit, breast, groin, limb, neck, testicle |
| Moles, changed appearance |
| Mouth ulcers, persistent, longer than 3 weeks |
| Night sweats (not related to the menopause) |
| Nipple discharge, changes, rashes |
| Pain at night, persistent, affecting sleep |
| Quinsy (pus on tonsil), suspected - if drooling, note able to swallow saliva, unable to open jaw at all and/or unwell, please attend A&E |
| Rashes, non-blanching - if worried about meningitis, please ring 999 |
| Sunburn in a child |
| Tiredness, excessive, prolonged, disabling, with no obvious cause |
| Ulcer, in a diabetic - please ring for a nurse appointment |
| Unable to pass any urine at all |
| Urine infection in a male |
| Weight loss, unintentional |
Not got anything too worrying?
If you haven't got cancer concerns, symptoms of serious illness or have anything that needs a sooner appointment with the GP then it is likely you can wait your turn
Please ring us for an appointment in due course. You have additional options if we are full for the day, or when we are closed.
if you're still not sure, please ring us or 111 for advice.
Ring 111 Appointments page If we are full When we are closed© Dr Michael Wong 2022