“Time is ticking”: MPs and charities demand action on deadly care home heat

Charities, care providers, and MPs have issued a stark warning to the government to implement a Cool Homes Plan for social care, or risk avoidable loss of life next summer. 

With 45 per cent of all heat-related excess deaths occurring in care homes last year, campaigners warn that extreme heat is a medical emergency for vulnerable people. 

The Epilepsy Society has joined forces with almost 60 health charities, including Parkinson’s UK, Age UK, and the National Care Forum, cross-party MPs, councillors, and experts to warn that winter is no longer the only life-threatening season. 

 In an open letter to Rt Hon Yvette Cooper, Secretary of State for Health, the coalition calls on the government to:

• Establish a Cool Homes Plan with dedicated grants for essential cooling adaptations. 
• Introduce cooling regulations for all social care settings, backed by CQC inspections.  
• Form a cross-social care sector working group to drive best practice heatwave guidance for all care environments.  

Professor Sanjay Sisodiya, Transformation Director at Epilepsy Society and Professor of Neurology at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, said: 

“Excess heat can seriously affect the working of the brain, especially for some people with neurological conditions. In many people with epilepsy, for instance, extreme heat can increase the number of seizures they experience. During heatwaves, people with epilepsy are reporting an increase in both the frequency and the length of seizures. We need to take this seriously and protect vulnerable people from extreme heat.”

Clare Pelham, Chief Executive of the Epilepsy Society, said: 

“With buildings designed to keep heat in, care homes are becoming heat traps for disabled and older people. We rightly have a Warm Homes Plan to protect people from the cold, but summer is fast becoming just as deadly as winter. 

“As the clocks go back, the time is ticking on a countdown to another summer of extreme heat. We must act now to keep care cool. By next summer, it will be too late for anything except regret.” 

Ceri Smith, Head of Policy and Evidence at the MS Society, said: 

“Over 150,000 people live with MS in the UK, and around 60-80% of them experience heat sensitivity. MS is debilitating, exhausting and unpredictable, and the heat can worsen symptoms like balance, weakness or fatigue, or impact someone’s vision and sensations. These issues can cause discomfort, distress and an increased chance of falls. As heatwaves become more frequent, the risk to people with MS increases. It’s vital that everyone with the condition can access care and support in appropriate environments which don’t exacerbate their symptoms.”

Executive Director of RCN England Patricia Marquis said:

 “The record-breaking temperatures this year exposed the liabilities of the crumbling health and care estate, with staff fighting a losing battle to keep older people and those with long-term conditions safe and comfortable.

“When buildings lack even the most basic cooling facilities, temperatures soar. This not only makes social care services impossible and inhumane places to work and receive care in, but actively lead to deterioration, including seizures brought on by extreme heat.

“This year was our warning and we now need urgent action to ensure all health and care services have effective cooling facilities in place by next summer or the vulnerable will suffer shocking harm once again."

Find out more

You can read our full letter, along with the list of signatures, here.