‘Inhumane’: UK’s extreme heat pushes NHS staff, patients to limit
“Horrific, horrendous, unbearable, unsafe.” That is how medical professionals describe the impact of this year’s heatwaves on Britain’s healthcare system, in response to a survey by the Doctors’ Association UK. In hospitals built for a cooler climate, staff are now dealing with patients too sweaty to receive intravenous drips, medication at risk of degrading in high temperatures and colleagues…
This year's heatwaves in Britain have taken a toll on its healthcare system, with medical professionals describing the situation as horrific, horrendous, unbearable, and unsafe. Hospitals, built for cooler climates, are now facing challenges with overheated patients who cannot receive intravenous drips, medication degrading in high temperatures, and colleagues collapsing due to heat fatigue. Britain's healthcare system appears unprepared for the rapid changes in climate.
According to Nick Watts, former chief sustainability officer of the NHS in England, many of the nation's hospitals and care homes were designed with the assumption that the climate would remain stable. However, this assumption has proven to be incorrect. Vulnerable to overheating, 90% of England's hospital buildings are susceptible to high temperatures, and the upgrades needed to address this issue are expensive. The budget of the NHS and capital allocations were not intended to cover such costs.
The extreme heat is impacting various aspects of Britain's infrastructure. Bus drivers in London have announced strikes due to the unbearable heat without air conditioning, banks have allowed workers to stay home during unbearable underground rides, train tracks are buckling, and schools have had to close. The London Fire Brigade received a record 27,580 emergency calls in June, surpassing the number of calls received during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Fiona Brennan, a consultant anaesthetist working in Cardiff, experienced conditions during the June heatwave that were far worse than during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Royal College of Nursing described the conditions as "inhumane," citing examples of hospital staff collapsing from dehydration and needing emergency treatment. Yvette Cooper, the UK's health and social care secretary, acknowledged the remarkable efforts of NHS staff during the extreme heat but emphasized the need for the NHS to plan for summer pressures as it does for winter pressures, including making buildings more resilient to extreme heat conditions.
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