Calls to clean up England’s ‘toxic air’ as GP visits for asthma attacks rise 45%

Last week a damning report by the Royal College of Physicians revealed that 99% of the UK population was now breathing in ‘toxic air’. Photograph: Ruskin Photos/Alamy

The number of patients being treated by GPs for asthma attacks has increased by 45% in a year, prompting calls for urgent action to tackle toxic levels of air pollution.

There were 45,458 presentations to family doctors in England between January and June this year, according to data from the Royal College of General Practitioners research and surveillance centre. Across the same period in 2024, there were 31,376 cases.