The hot weather is also driving more patients to A&E departments, and callers are being asked not to use 999 except in serious emergencies. All 10 ambulance trusts in England are on black alert, the highest level, with health leaders warning that “ill-equipped” hospitals are struggling to properly stock medicines amid the unusually high temperatures. Martin Flaherty, Chief Executive of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, said: “The NHS ambulance sector is under intense pressure, with all ambulance services operating at the highest level of four in local resource scaling-up action plans, which are usually only reserved for major incidents or short-term periods of unusual demand. “Severe delays in ambulance crews being able to deliver their patients to many hospital emergency departments are having a very significant impact on the ambulance industry’s ability to respond to patients as quickly as we would like because our crews and vehicles are stuck out of that’s all. hospitals.” “In this, we have a lot of staff absences due to an increase in Covid cases as well as added pressure caused by the current hot weather, which makes things even more difficult for our staff and of course the patients they care for. “ A trust executive in the South West has warned that the pressure this summer is mounting and the heatwave could be the “tipping point”. He added: “We’re going to start seeing a lot more numbers coming in, so I think we’re at a tipping point where we might have to cancel some electives.” Several hospitals and entire regions are also on black alert and warning patients to stay away from A&E as their services struggle with Covid staff shortages and high temperatures. The heat has affected all emergency services, with firefighters tackling blazes in Oldham and other parts of the country (aaronlp1) Doctors also told The Independent that more elderly patients are being affected by the heat, with A&E departments seeing elderly patients attending wards this week. NHS Blood and Transplant, which issued a warning about blood stock levels last week, said donations typically drop by 10 to 15 per cent in hot weather. Figures show Covid levels have reached a new record high for the pandemic, with an average of 351,000 people being infected every day, according to the latest incidence figures from the ZOE Covid study. Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, told the Independent: “As well as increasing demand, extreme heat is also putting additional pressure on the NHS’s often antiquated and poorly equipped buildings and estates. “We know that as temperatures rise, NHS organizations across the country are struggling to store medicines, food, lab kits and IT equipment at the right temperatures.” Countries across Europe are facing heatwaves and the UK is no exception (ECMWF) He added: “The rise in Covid cases means sickness and staff absences are rising very quickly and lasting longer, at a time when the NHS is already plagued by chronic staff shortages and has 105,000 vacancies. “In some parts of the NHS normal staff sickness rates have doubled. Coupled with the additional impact of the heatwave on many in our communities, the health service is once again facing extremely high demand.” Miriam Deakin, interim deputy chief executive at NHS Providers, said: “All signs point to a very difficult summer, autumn and winter for an NHS under pressure as pressure on beds and overstretched staff increases. “If the heatwave hits people’s health hard, it will put more pressure on services – particularly ambulance services which are always in high demand in hot weather – already dealing with recent weekly increases in hospital admissions with Covid-19”. An extreme heat warning is in place for much of England on Sunday and Monday (PA Graphics) The Independent understands that, at a store in the east of England, NHS bosses have been alerted to the impact of the current heat wave on the ability to store medicines at the correct temperatures. A trust source said they were surprised by the “lack of awareness in hospitals about the importance of keeping all drugs and medicines under certain temperatures”, adding that many older buildings are likely to have “limited” air conditioning and use storage facilities that they could easily heat up in the midst of record-breaking heat. “Old storage facilities built in times when room temperature was the norm for all common medicines … could be very hot,” the source said. The Care Quality Commission, the UK’s health and social care regulator, has identified many hospitals in recent years struggling to consistently maintain appropriate temperatures for drug storage.
