Becoming Carbon Literate in a Heatwave
Our New Normal: Extreme Weather, Patient Care and the Power of Carbon Literacy
The current heatwave has been another clear reminder that climate change is shaping the way we work in the NHS right now. These extreme temperatures aren’t rare spikes anymore, they’re becoming our new normal, and hospitals like ours feel the impact quickly. Older parts of the estate, built for a very different climate, simply can’t keep up. Thick walls trap heat, ventilation struggles, and once a ward or corridor warms up, it stays warm long into the evening. Staff feel it, patients feel it, and services feel it.
We’ve seen clinical areas creeping above safe temperature thresholds, equipment rooms becoming harder to cool, and teams working through long shifts in spaces that are far hotter than they should be. Patients with respiratory and cardiovascular conditions are particularly affected, and estates teams are under constant pressure to keep buildings safe and functional. This is climate change in real time, not a future scenario, but the lived experience of healthcare today.
So it felt especially fitting that, in the middle of this heatwave, we delivered another Carbon Literacy for Healthcare training session. While the sun beat down outside, we were inside learning about the very impacts we’re feeling and facing, and, importantly, the actions we can take to reduce emissions and limit future warming. This week’s group brought together colleagues from the Emergency Department, Acute Medicine, Imaging, Diabetes and our own Discovery Library. A brilliant mix of people, all passionate about making change and all seeing the effects of climate change through the lens of their own roles.
They shared experiences from overheated wards, equipment pushed to its limits, and the challenges of delivering safe care in buildings that were never designed for this climate. But they also shared ideas, practical, hopeful, grounded in their day‑to‑day work, about how we can cut carbon, build resilience and influence others around us.
I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing the actions they put in place as a result of the training, and how they go on to influence those around them. Every cohort brings new energy and momentum, and this week’s group was no exception.
Kirsty Wavish, UHP Sustainability Manager
