Nurses fainting in ‘inhumane’ conditions due to extreme heat, union warns

Published 12 August 2026 · politics

Nurses are collapsing during shifts amid “inhumane and impossible” conditions caused by extreme heat, their union has warned, as Andy Burnham promised to grapple with

Nurses are collapsing during shifts amid “inhumane and impossible” conditions caused by extreme heat, their union has warned, as Andy Burnham promised to grapple with “the bigger questions” of climate adaptation. Amid growing pressure from Labour backbenches to fully acknowledge the urgency of adaptation measures as the climate crisis bites, Burnham said he was for now focusing on the immediate crises caused by an ongoing summer of extreme heat. Speaking after a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee, Burnham refused to say if the summer had made the case against renewed drilling in the North Sea, which his government is considering. “It is really important that we deal today with the situation that we are in right now and we focus on making sure that we have the serious incidents under control across the country, and those incidents are under control,” he said. “The bigger questions obviously will come at the right moment in time,” he added. An amber warning for heat across large parts of England will come into force again on Thursday morning, with temperatures forecast to reach 36C or potentially higher. Train passengers on some networks are being warned by rail operators to only travel if the journey is vital, saying services are likely to be disrupted because of the weather. Three-quarters of England is now officially in drought. Firefighters are continuing to tackle a blaze in the New Forest in Hampshire, with warnings across parts of eastern and southern Scotland about a very high risk of wildfires.

With the number of days of 30C-plus heat in the UK already at a new record of 35, the Royal College of Nursing became the latest union to warn of unsafe working conditions for many members in hospital wards and care homes. The RCN, which runs an advice hotline, said some staff had collapsed. Others were left dizzy, nauseous or at risk of fainting while dripping with sweat “from head to toe”. They also faced pressure to keep elderly and vulnerable patients safe alongside keeping medications cool. Working within a critical care unit in an NHS hospital in the south-west of England, a 37-year-old nurse told the Guardian her ward had reached temperatures of more than 30C and staff were struggling in the conditions. “Our ward doesn’t have air conditioning, and so we’re all really struggling. We’ve had hot summers before, but I can’t remember ever working in conditions like these back to back,” she said. Another nurse, working in a community health centre in England, said: “It gets to the point you dread going to work, especially when wearing PPE and providing patient care. We drip with sweat from head to toe.” Prof Nicola Ranger, the general secretary and chief executive of the RCN, said that these testimonies were a “wake-up call”, calling for an urgent programme to install air conditioning, improve ventilation and ensure heat-appropriate uniforms were available. On Monday, the Fire Brigades Union warned that firefighters needed new equipment and resources to face the growing threats from a climate changing at speed.