The Royal College of Physicians has welcomed yesterday's announcement of over £1.5 billion being invested to help the NHS withstand year-round pressure, including £32 million specifically for cooling and ventilation projects to strengthen hospitals' resilience to extreme heat.
The Royal College of Physicians has welcomed yesterday's announcement of over £1.5 billion being invested to help the NHS withstand year-round pressure, including £32 million specifically for cooling and ventilation projects to strengthen hospitals' resilience to extreme heat.
This comes as the NHS England statistics from August show an improved A&E performance on the previous seriously challenging months of summer, reflecting that in August the number of heatwaves decreased from the record-breaking extreme heat of July.
However, this improvement is circumstantial on the slight easing of the extreme weather and still reflects the worst August on record for the number of emergency department attendees and waits of over 12 hours from decision to admit.
In August 2026, 44,951 patients waited more than 12 hours in an emergency department following the decision to admit them, down from last month, but still the highest figure for any August on record. A total of 2.34 million people attended A&E in August 2026. This was the lowest figure of a historically busy summer, with May, June and July seeing record-breaking highs.
Without long-term structural change, this picture will continue to worsen each summer . This is why the RCP welcomes the £1.5bn investment announced to tackle urgent problems with hospital buildings and facilities. Investment in infrastructure is essential to address the impact of extreme weather on hospitals.
Dr Hilary Williams, RCP clinical vice president, said:
'This investment in hospital infrastructure is welcome news and is something we've been pushing hard for. Throughout this summer, our members came to us with accounts of how extreme heat is impacting their patients and affecting their wards. There were corridors reaching 35 degrees, staff describing conditions as awful, patients presenting with dehydration and collapse, and critical infrastructure like MRI scanners not working. Physicians telling us they feel a sense of foreboding every time they check the weather forecast is not something any of us should accept as normal in a modern health service. The RCP made sure those voices were heard because it was clear this has become a serious patient safety issue .
'We have been consistent in saying that the NHS cannot keep treating extreme weather as an afterthought. Mitigating its impact needs to be built into how we plan, fund and maintain our hospitals, alongside the workforce support staff need to keep delivering safe care when temperatures climb. So, we are pleased that government has listened, and that this investment recognises the need to plan for these extreme heat conditions.
'This funding for cooling and ventilation, and the wider commitment to tackling ageing infrastructure across the NHS estate, is a meaningful first step. But as we have said before, heatwaves like the ones we saw this year will only become more frequent and more severe. We will continue to make the case for sustained, system-wide investment so that our hospitals, our patients and staff are properly prepared for the realities of a hotter future.
'At the same time, we must recognise climate change as the biggest long-term threat to human health, and continue to transition away from fossil fuels, redirecting funding and subsidies towards renewable energy sources and technologies.