Plumbers, heating engineers and meter installers should alert the authorities when they visit a “dangerously cold home” in order to help reduce the toll of winter deaths, new NHS guidelines say.
On average there are about 24,000 more deaths in the UK between December and March compared with the rest of the year. These are attributed mainly to heart disease and respiratory disease. For each death there are approximately eight extra non-fatal hospital admissions.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said that a hidden army of non-health professionals, alongside GPs and district nurses, should help identify vulnerable people.
David Sloan, co-chair of the Nice committee which developed the guidance, published on Thursday, said: “Doctors, nurses and other health staff prevent and treat illnesses every day but we are suggesting that thinking about the health effects of cold homes is also their business. This new Nice guideline says that health, social care and other professionals should always take a minute to consider the health risk of cold homes when in contact with patients and clients, and know what steps to take to get help to the people who need it. Action on cold homes can prevent early deaths.”
The guidance says that local health and wellbeing boards should establish a single-point-of-contact referral system that GPs, plumbers, or others can contact should they have concerns. The intention is that people in cold homes could then get help, such as building insulation or advice on moving to cheaper energy tariffs.
There are 150,000 heating engineers in the UK who make 8m home visits each year. Neil Schofield, a member of the Heating and Hotwater Industry Council, said: “It’s a massive opportunity for them to recognise a cold, vulnerable person. They’re living in one room or heating the house by leaving the oven door open or the grill on. There’s this army out there that can recognise this and support them.”
Elderly people, individuals with low incomes in the UK (up to 9m live in fuel poverty), those with mental health disabilities, babies and children under five, and pregnant women are considered vulnerable when the outside temperature drops to 6°C.
Age UK estimates that cold homes cost NHS England £1.36bn a year, a figure which excludes social care costs. The charity’s director, Caroline Abrahams, said: “Too many older people continue to endure misery, hardship, anxiety, ill health and, in the worst cases, death, because they can’t afford to heat their homes properly. This guideline finally offers the chance of kick-starting urgent action on these issues, which is long overdue.”
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