Extreme Heat: Resilience of NHS Infrastructure

Earl Russell Excerpts

Tuesday 30th June 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Earl Russell]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the resilience of NHS infrastructure to extreme heat; and what steps they are taking to ensure that NHS buildings are adequately equipped to withstand prolonged periods of extreme heat.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)]

My Lords, extreme heat does pose a serious risk to NHS buildings and services. All NHS organisations are required to have effective arrangements in place for adverse weather. We are supporting trusts to target the most critical estates risks with £6.75 billion over nine years, including risks that need to be dealt with in respect of cooling and ventilation; and we are ensuring that new hospitals and new-build neighbourhood health centres have climate resilience embedded in their design from the outset.

--- Later in debate ---

[Earl Russell (LD)]

I welcome the Answer from the noble Baroness. Last Wednesday was the London Ambulance Service’s busiest ever day for life-threatening emergencies, and at least six NHS trusts declared critical incidents. Nine in ten of our NHS buildings are ill-equipped to handle heat. The Climate Change Committee’s report, A Well-Adapted UK, argues urgently for solar batteries and cooling across all public buildings, yet Great British Energy’s programme covers only 200 out of 1,200 NHS sites. Therefore, will the Minister commit to ensuring that every hospital has solar battery storage and air-source heat pumps by 2035?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

The Government are indeed providing trusts with substantial investment—I mentioned just some of it—in these measures, and that is very much in line with the Government’s net-zero ambitions and intent. We are investing £155 million in solar projects and £400 million in heat decarbonisation grants across the NHS. I emphasise that, looking forward, all NHS new builds and major upgrades will align with the net-zero building standard.