Healthcare is being pushed to the frontline of the climate crisis, placing mounting pressure on clinicians, hospitals and already stretched infrastructure.
That’s the warning from Dr Matt Lee, sustainability lead with the Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK).
Dr Lee said extreme weather events pose risks to patients and healthcare workers, and increased demand on NHS services.
His warning comes as the UK recorded an all-time temperature record for May two days in a row, with 34.8C at London’s Kew Gardens on Bank Holiday Monday, and 35C at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday.
Extreme temperatures
Such extreme temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the NHS during the summer months alongside the well-recognised winter crisis, Dr Lee said.
He said: “It’s not yet officially summer and temperatures are in the mid thirties.
“The current global weather patterns suggest we are in for more heat records to be broken this summer, and yet today is the most stable climate we will ever experience.
“First and foremost, we urge everyone to stay safe.
Climate action
“As a healthcare community, now more than ever we must use our voice to advocate for climate action, for the sake of our friends, our families and our patients.
“Weather will get more extreme, more lives will be lost, and healthcare will continue to be on the frontline of the effects of climate change.”
Dr Lee called for the Government, and the new health secretary James Murray, to make tackling climate change a key policy priority.
He said: “We’ve been consistently clear that the climate crisis is a health crisis and that failure to act will and is placing massive strain on healthcare systems.
National Emergency Briefing
“We urge the new health secretary to make this his priority, and we are here ready to work with him to bring about change.”
DAUK is encouraging healthcare professionals and organisations to engage with the National Emergency Briefing Film by organising workplace screenings or attending community events.
DAUK members will already have received details in the latest newsletter about a special online screening taking place later this evening.
Dr Lee said: “We encourage everyone to engage with the National Emergency Briefing Film, by hosting screenings in your workplaces or attending local film screenings.
Climate crisis
“For healthcare professionals specifically, we also encourage you to use Our Health, Our Planet, for specialty specific and public facing information on the climate crisis.
“Change is possible and we must work together to advocate for our patients to have a safe and liveable future for all.”
Picture credit by Li-An Lim on Unsplash
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