...and the advice from nanny NHS? Turn heating up!

AS temperatures plunge, the best brains of the NHS have been drafted in to prepare plans for avoiding a winter health crisis in hospitals.

However, their grand idea for making sure vulnerable pensioners do not need to be rushed on to overcrowded wards has been greeted with ridicule rather than appreciation.

For their advice is simply to turn up the heating and keep warm when it gets cold – considered by many to be a patronising statement of the obvious.

‘Nannying’ health chiefs have also been condemned for failing to take account of the struggle many face with excessive heating bills.

Around 25,000 deaths every year are attributed to cold weather, with pensioners particularly vulnerable to problems including raised blood pressure, causing heart attacks and strokes, as well as pneumonia.

They are being targeted by the campaign to prepare the public for winter and cut unnecessary A&E admissions. But the advice from NHS England and Public Health England to ‘wrap up warm’, use a hot-water bottle in bed and have hot meals throughout the day has been met with anger.

Launching the national campaign, Professor Paul Cosford, of Public Health England, said: ‘Try to maintain indoor temperatures to at least 18C, particularly if you find it hard to get around, have a long-term illness or are 65 or over. You may prefer your living room to be slightly warmer.’

But Paul Green, of the over-50s group Saga, said: ‘This advice doesn’t take a lot of imagination to give. Whilst it might remind people of something that is completely obvious, it doesn’t help with their energy bills.

‘There will be some older people who think it is patronising, while others will listen to the advice and say, “Yes, but I cannot afford to put the heating on”. These people don’t need the nanny state – they need enough money to heat and eat.’

Health chiefs have highlighted state help for the elderly, including winter fuel payments, but pensioners, who often consume more heat because they do not go out to work during the day, frequently bear the brunt of soaring energy bills.

Dot Gibson, of the National Pensioners Convention, said: ‘It’s easy to say to pensioners they must put the heating on when it gets cold, but the reality is that many are struggling to pay their bills.

‘The truth is more and more people in Britain are finding that a warm home is becoming a luxury they simply cannot afford.’

Health chiefs want to cut the avoidable A&E admissions, overcrowded wards and abandoned patients on trolleys seen in previous winters, but last week MPs warned this year may be worse than ever.

NHS England said: ‘Whilst the actions being promoted are simple and easy to implement, if put into place, they will help prepare against winter and go a long way to protecting some from a hospital visit.’

Energy UK, the industry body, said: ‘Companies have taken steps so older people should not worry about paying their bills.’