Hundreds of appointments have been cancelled across the UK as NHS buildings struggle to handle extreme heat
Extreme weather conditions in the United Kingdom have triggered widespread disruptions to health services, with hospitals among the worst hit.
The Met Office issued a rare red warning for extreme heat as the nation experiences exceptionally hot and humid conditions, with temperatures provisionally hitting 36.1°C in Gosport, Hampshire, setting a record for June.
The heat is expected to continue through Thursday and Friday and forecasters have even warned that the record could be broken again.
A report published last year found that nine in 10 NHS buildings are ill-equipped to handle prolonged spells of extreme heat.
Now several trusts have declared critical incidents as cooling systems powering MRI scanners, operating theatres and laboratories have broken down under the strain.
Both Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH) and Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth have declared critical incidents, with at least 254 outpatients cancelled so far.
NNUH currently has no working scanners. Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust said the failure of multiple chiller units has pushed temperatures up across several areas, disrupting digital systems and clinical services, including theatres, cardiac catheter labs and diagnostic scanning.
Engineers are working to restore systems, and patients will be contacted directly if their appointments are affected.
East Surrey Hospital in Redhill also declared a critical incident and rescheduled appointments yesterday, although the alert has since been called off.
University College London Hospitals warned that some of its buildings have no air conditioning and alerted certain patients that they may need to switch to virtual appointments.
NNUH’s Chief Operating Office Chris Cobb, cautioned that the situation in Norfolk may not be resolved quickly, particularly while the heat persists and apologised to all those affected.
Some hospitals have also had to cancel appointments due to surging demand for emergency care, with warnings that pressure on services could intensify further over the coming days.
The situation has prompted renewed warnings that Britain’s public infrastructure was built for a climate that no longer exists.
The NHS isn’t alone in its vulnerability - train operators have been forced to reduce train speed to prevent tracks from buckling in the heat, and schools have described their Victorian buildings turning into greenhouses.
UN Secretary General António Guterres, speaking at London Climate Action Week, said the city was “cooking”.
He also warned the world faces “a climate crisis pushing us deeper towards higher temperatures and closer to catastrophic tipping points”.