Nurses collapsing from extreme heat in UK hospitals and care homes

Nurses are collapsing at work as they endure extreme heat in buildings that are proving unfit for the record temperatures gripping Britain.

Conditions are “inhumane”, the Royal College of Nursing said on Thursday. Members have reported temperatures in excess of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in UK hospital wards and care homes, often without access to air conditioning, fans or even to windows that open, the RCN said.

As Britain sweats through its fifth heatwave of the year, record temperatures are taking their toll on many of the country’s critical services. Hospitals and social care buildings are “utterly unprepared for extreme temperatures”, Nicola Ranger, RCN general secretary and chief executive, said in a statement. “It’s becoming an impossible and inhumane place to work or receive care.”

Parts of the United Kingdom are expected to reach temperatures as high as 38 degrees on Thursday, with the Met Office warning that this summer is on track to be the hottest on record. Prime Minister Andy Burnham convened an emergency meeting of ministers and senior officials on Wednesday to discuss how to address the pressure now facing emergency workers and farmers due to the relentless heat.

Ranger said the conditions in Britain’s hospitals and care homes show that “climate change isn’t some abstract concept, but a serious threat to people’s health and the services they rely on”.

The RCN cited examples of members physically buckling under the strain. One nurse working in a ward without ventilation ended up needing emergency treatment at the same hospital after collapsing from dehydration.