Patients died and others deteriorated in “suffocating atmospheres” on NHS hospital wards during this summer’s record heat, according to a new NHS heatwave survey of more than 2,400 nurses — with one London hospital reporting that the heat contributed to increased respiratory distress in newborn babies.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) poll, published on Wednesday, lays bare how Britain’s record-breaking summer overwhelmed hospitals whose buildings could not cope. One children’s ward in Yorkshire reached 44C, while nurses across the country described conditions they called inhumane.
What the NHS heatwave survey found in London
In the capital, the impact fell on some of the most vulnerable patients. In one London hospital, a nurse told the RCN that the heat contributed to increased respiratory distress in newborn babies.
Another nurse treating cancer patients in London described conditions on a chemotherapy unit with no air conditioning: “I’ve seen patients sweating and dripping due to the heat during chemotherapy. There is no air conditioning running in the unit. During one particularly hot period, patients were visibly sweating throughout their treatment. This feels like a safety concern, not just a comfort issue.”
The London testimony sits within a bleak national picture. One nurse in the North West described conditions as “horrendous”, saying patients were “suffering more from the effects of heat than the actual reason they are in hospital”. Others reported patients fainting and older people suffering rapid dehydration.
People with heart failure and respiratory conditions fared particularly badly. A nurse in the East of England described “patients with heart failure sitting in over 30C heat and a new ward with blocked windows”, while a nurse in Wales said the extreme heat directly affected the deaths of two frail patients: “Whilst it was not the only cause, if you are in respiratory failure, the heat is a death sentence.”
One nurse working in a hospital in the South West described a palliative patient whose chronic ulcers festered in the heat until they attracted flies: “Some of his and his relative’s last memories will be knowing of and, in his case feeling, maggots in his wounds.”
“An assault on people’s right to dignified, safe care”
RCN chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger said the findings showed long-term underinvestment had left the health service defenceless against extreme heat.
“This testimony reveals the devastating impact of extreme heat on patients, with increased death, deterioration, and conditions in services which, frankly, are an assault on people’s right to dignified, safe care,” she said.
“The reality is that climate change is here, but long-term underinvestment in our health and care services has left them so unprepared. Staff did everything they could in record-breaking temperatures to keep patients safe and comfortable, but they were fighting a losing battle in buildings which often lack even the most basic cooling facilities. It’s been incredibly traumatic.”
The union has called for more government investment so hospitals can cope in warm weather. Professor Ranger added: “We are all aware of the pressures that winter brings, but extreme heat is here to stay, and the clock is now ticking to accelerate investment in hospitals, care homes and other settings to ensure they are prepared. This summer was our warning. By next, we need everywhere to have effective cooling facilities in place, or patients will suffer shocking harm once again.”
Some 74 per cent of the nurses polled said they had little or no confidence that the government was taking sufficient action to reduce the impact of climate change on the NHS and social care. Nurses also reported mental health patients becoming more challenging in the heat, leading to more assaults on staff. The Department of Health was contacted for comment.
London hit hardest by extreme heat, figures show
The survey follows a summer of unprecedented heat that left hospitals under what staff described as winter-level pressure. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Liberal Democrats, reported by The Times in August, showed nearly half of NHS trusts recorded ward temperatures above 33C since June, with the highest reading — 41.8C — recorded at the Northern Care Alliance Trust in Manchester. Almost all hospitals exceeded the NHS recommended maximum of 28C.
The Times also reported that health officials believe nearly 3,000 patients died this summer from complications such as heart attacks and strokes linked to the extreme weather, and UK Health Security Agency estimates put excess deaths from the May and June heatwaves alone at 2,877.
Office for National Statistics figures, reported by Nursing Times last month, showed that London had the highest proportion of deaths attributable to both the hottest and coldest days of any region — a finding the RCN’s Professor Ranger described as evidence of a “public health emergency”. She warned then that without action on the NHS estate, “the human cost in the future could be even more devastating”.
Back in August, the RCN said it had received scores of calls to its advice line describing wards, care homes and offices regularly topping 30C, with some nursing staff trying to deliver care without air conditioning, fans, or even windows that open.
The new survey cements what frontline staff have been saying all summer: London’s hospitals — many in ageing buildings never designed for this kind of heat — are now on the front line of the climate crisis.
Reporting based on Sky News, Nursing Times and The Times.
