A HOT SOLUTION FOR THE VULNERABLE

Elderly patients with hypothermia are being admitted to hospital after freezing in their own homes – because they were scared to turn on the heating. And that’s before we even hit the coldest months of January and February.

The thought of frail people in their 80s and 90s shivering to near-death in 2022 should fill every politician with abject horror and shame.

Yet as the money-grabbing energy bosses jet off to Barbados (or wherever fat cats go at this time of year), rubbing their hands at record profits, many of our most vulnerable residents are suffering horribly.

But there is a solution that makes perfect sense. It’s more cost effective for the NHS to pay the heating bills of the elderly and vulnerable, rather than wait for them to get ill and need ambulances and hospital treatment, which inevitably ends up being far more costly.

Not only is it cheaper for the tax-payer, it also keeps vital hospital beds clear and it’s better for would-be patients, because they are saved from suffering hypothermia. Win, win, win.

The scheme has been tried out in Gloucestershire, where GPS were able to prescribe warm homes and NHS chiefs paid an average of £647 towards the cost of keeping the heating of certain patients switched on.

Many of those taking part in the trial, who typically suffered from cold-sensitive problems such as respiratory conditions, said it had changed their lives and was far preferable to going to hospital.

Health problems for people suffering from fuel poverty and living in cold homes cost the NHS £860m each year and cause or contribute to 10,000 deaths – and that’s before the sky-high energy-price hikes we’re seeing now are taken into account.

Dr Matt Lipson, who helped to design the plan, says the double benefit of saving money while taking pressure off the NHS makes it a no-brainer. ‘If we buy the energy people need but can’t afford, they can keep warm at home and stay out of hospital.’

I mean, what are we waiting for? Roll this out NOW.