DAUK’s sustainability lead has been highlighting the impact of extreme heat on the NHS in a new opinion column and online blog.
Dr Matt Lee has written an opinion piece in the BMJ titled The NHS must adapt as extreme heat becomes inevitable.
In it, he warns that the NHS must be better prepared for increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves.
Urgent action
He said that without urgent action, preventable harm to patients and healthcare workers will continue.
The column draws on a DAUK survey of 1,111 NHS staff during the June heatwave.
More than two-thirds said heat had affected patient care and safety, while 83.3% described their workplace as very or dangerously hot. Almost 90% supported the introduction of a legal maximum workplace temperature for healthcare facilities.
Heatwave survey
Dr Lee explores the survey in his BMJ Leader blog titled I can no longer keep patients safe – Heatwaves and Health Workers: time for political action.
In it he highlights the survey findings and DAUK’s calls for action in its correspondence to the political leaders responsible for health in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
He wrote: “A failure to act will cost even more lives.
Bold action
“We (at Doctors Association UK), and others in the healthcare community, are ready to support politicians to take bold action to keep us all safe.”
Read Dr Lee’s opinion column in the BMJ: The NHS must adapt as extreme heat becomes inevitable
Read the BMJ Leader blog: “I can no longer keep patients safe” – Heatwaves and Health Workers: time for political action
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