Fever
🟢 Routine: A short fever with mild cold-like symptoms that is improving can often be observed with fluids and rest.
🟡 Soon: Arrange review if fever persists, repeatedly returns, or is accompanied by localized symptoms such as painful urination, persistent cough or significant weakness.
🔴 Urgent: Seek urgent care for confusion, breathing difficulty, seizure, severe dehydration, stiff neck, unusual bleeding/rash, very low BP or rapid deterioration.
Headache
🟢 Routine: A familiar mild tension-type headache that improves with rest, hydration or usual simple measures can often be monitored.
🟡 Soon: See a doctor for a new recurring pattern, increasing frequency, headache waking you from sleep, or headache with persistent vomiting or visual symptoms.
🔴 Urgent: Emergency assessment is needed for a sudden thunderclap/worst-ever headache, new weakness/speech difficulty, seizure, confusion, fever with neck stiffness, or severe headache in pregnancy/postpartum.
Chest pain
🟢 Routine: Brief, clearly movement-related chest-wall discomfort without breathlessness or cardiovascular warning features may be assessed routinely if it settles.
🟡 Soon: New or recurrent unexplained chest discomfort, especially with exertion or cardiovascular risk factors, deserves prompt medical assessment.
🔴 Urgent: Call emergency services for ongoing pressure/heaviness, pain spreading to arm/jaw/back, sweating, severe breathlessness, fainting or collapse.
Breathlessness
🟢 Routine: Mild breathlessness only with unusually heavy exertion that quickly settles may be monitored if it is normal for you.
🟡 Soon: New breathlessness, reduced exercise tolerance, wheeze, persistent cough or breathlessness when lying flat should be medically assessed.
🔴 Urgent: Urgent care is needed for severe breathlessness at rest, blue lips, inability to speak full sentences, chest pain, confusion, collapse or rapidly falling oxygen saturation.
Abdominal pain
🟢 Routine: Mild short-lived discomfort related to a familiar dietary trigger and clearly improving can often be observed.
🟡 Soon: Persistent, recurrent or localized pain, weight loss, altered bowel habit, jaundice or pain repeatedly occurring after meals deserves evaluation.
🔴 Urgent: Seek urgent care for sudden severe pain, a rigid/swollen abdomen, repeated vomiting, vomiting blood, black/bloody stool, fainting, or pain with pregnancy.
Cough
🟢 Routine: A mild cough during a common cold that is steadily improving usually needs supportive care rather than antibiotics.
🟡 Soon: Review is appropriate for cough lasting around 3 weeks or more, recurrent fever, wheeze, weight loss, night sweats or worsening breathlessness.
🔴 Urgent: Urgent assessment is needed for severe breathing difficulty, coughing significant blood, chest pain, confusion, cyanosis or low oxygen saturation.
Dizziness
🟢 Routine: Brief light-headedness after standing that resolves quickly may improve with hydration and slow position changes, if no red flags are present.
🟡 Soon: Recurrent dizziness, true spinning vertigo, medication-related symptoms or episodes affecting walking and daily function should be assessed.
🔴 Urgent: Urgent care is needed when dizziness occurs with new weakness, facial droop, speech trouble, severe headache, chest pain, fainting, persistent vomiting or inability to walk.
Vomiting / diarrhoea
🟢 Routine: Mild gastroenteritis with preserved drinking and urination can often be managed initially with oral fluids and appropriate food.
🟡 Soon: Seek review if symptoms persist, oral intake is difficult, fever is significant, or there are signs of dehydration.
🔴 Urgent: Urgent care is needed for blood in vomit/stool, severe abdominal pain, confusion, fainting, very little urine, persistent inability to keep fluids down, or severe dehydration.
High BP reading
🟢 Routine: One mildly high reading without symptoms should be repeated correctly after sitting quietly; keep a record rather than panic.
🟡 Soon: Repeated home readings above your usual/target range should be discussed with your clinician for confirmation and treatment review.
🔴 Urgent: Very high BP with chest pain, breathlessness, new neurological symptoms, confusion, visual loss or severe acute illness requires urgent assessment rather than simply taking extra tablets yourself.
High blood sugar
🟢 Routine: A modest isolated rise after food may reflect the meal, stress or missed routine and should be rechecked according to your diabetes plan.
🟡 Soon: Repeated high readings, increasing thirst/urination, unexplained weight loss or worsening glucose control should prompt medical review.
🔴 Urgent: Urgent care is needed for very high glucose with vomiting, abdominal pain, deep/rapid breathing, marked dehydration, drowsiness or confusion—possible DKA/HHS.
Urinary symptoms
🟢 Routine: Mild urinary frequency without pain or systemic symptoms can be discussed routinely, particularly if related to fluid/caffeine intake.
🟡 Soon: Burning, urgency, frequency, cloudy urine or recurrent symptoms should be assessed, especially in men, pregnancy or people with diabetes.
🔴 Urgent: Urgent assessment is needed for fever with flank pain, vomiting, severe weakness, inability to pass urine, visible heavy bleeding or signs of sepsis.
Leg swelling
🟢 Routine: Mild swelling in both ankles after prolonged standing that resolves overnight may be observed while addressing salt intake and activity.
🟡 Soon: Persistent or increasing swelling, especially with kidney/heart/liver disease or new medicines, deserves clinical assessment.
🔴 Urgent: Urgent care is needed for sudden one-sided painful swelling (possible DVT), or swelling with chest pain, sudden breathlessness, coughing blood or severe respiratory distress.
Weakness
🟢 Routine: General tiredness after poor sleep, overwork or a minor illness that improves with rest can often be monitored briefly.
🟡 Soon: Persistent unexplained weakness, weight loss, pallor, recurrent fever or reduced daily function should be evaluated for underlying causes.
🔴 Urgent: Sudden weakness of one side, facial droop, speech difficulty, inability to stand, collapse or severe confusion is an emergency and may indicate stroke or another acute illness.
Back pain
🟢 Routine: Simple back strain after activity, without neurological symptoms, often improves with gentle movement and appropriate short-term pain relief.
🟡 Soon: See a doctor if pain persists, repeatedly returns, occurs at night, follows significant trauma, or is associated with fever, weight loss or cancer history.
🔴 Urgent: Urgent assessment is needed for new bladder/bowel dysfunction, saddle numbness, progressive leg weakness, major trauma, or severe back pain with systemic illness.