{"id":102484,"date":"2026-08-13T04:56:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T04:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/102484\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T04:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T04:56:11","slug":"uk-nurses-report-inhumane-heat-in-hospitals-as-heatwave-grips-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/102484\/","title":{"rendered":"UK nurses report \u2018inhumane\u2019 heat in hospitals as heatwave grips country"},"content":{"rendered":"<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Nurses are collapsing at work as they endure extreme heat in buildings that are proving unfit for the record temperatures gripping Britain.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Conditions are \u201cinhumane\u201d, the Royal College of Nursing said on Thursday. Members have reported temperatures in excess of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in UK hospital wards and care homes, often without access to air conditioning, fans or even to windows that open, the RCN said.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">As Britain sweats through its fifth heatwave of the year, record temperatures are taking their toll on many of the country\u2019s critical services. Hospitals and social care buildings are \u201cutterly unprepared for extreme temperatures\u201d, Nicola Ranger, RCN general secretary and chief executive, said in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s becoming an impossible and inhumane place to work or receive care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Parts of the United Kingdom are expected to reach temperatures as high as 38 degrees on Thursday, with the Met Office warning that this summer is on track to be the hottest on record. Prime Minister Andy Burnham convened an emergency meeting of ministers and senior officials on Wednesday to discuss how to address the pressure now facing emergency workers and farmers due to the relentless heat.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Britain\u2019s Prime Minister Andy Burnham speaks to the media after chairing a COBR meeting on the UK\u2019s ongoing response to extreme heat, wildfires and drought, in London on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/678e2581-92bd-44df-98ec-b7d7aacce631_94580040.jpg\" title=\"Britain\u2019s Prime Minister Andy Burnham speaks to the media after chairing a COBR meeting on the UK\u2019s ongoing response to extreme heat, wildfires and drought, in London on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters\"\/>Britain\u2019s Prime Minister Andy Burnham speaks to the media after chairing a COBR meeting on the UK\u2019s ongoing response to extreme heat, wildfires and drought, in London on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Ranger said the conditions in Britain\u2019s hospitals and care homes show that \u201cclimate change isn\u2019t some abstract concept, but a serious threat to people\u2019s health and the services they rely on\u201d.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The RCN cited examples of members physically buckling under the strain. One nurse working in a ward without ventilation ended up needing emergency treatment at the same hospital after collapsing from dehydration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nurses are collapsing at work as they endure extreme heat in buildings that are proving unfit for the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[7786,28294,2341,24886,4832,36805,1224,23777,29724,29731,43047,5,6],"class_list":["post-102484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uk","tag-andy-burnham","tag-burnham","tag-care-homes","tag-extreme-weather","tag-heatwave","tag-heatwaves","tag-hospitals","tag-hot","tag-nurses","tag-nursing","tag-royal-college-of-nursing","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117086426510608799","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}