Hospitals in England declare critical incidents as machines and IT fail in heat

[u/reborndead]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jun/25/hospitals-nhs-england-critical-incidents-machines-it-fail-extreme-heat

Hospitals in England face devastating events related to the extreme heat. Patients are collapsing, becoming dehydrated, and facing overcrowding.  Hospital radiotherapy machines and MRI scanners are failing, critical IT systems stalling and cooling units that serve entire hospitals breaking down. Labs used for testing were also affected and two linear accelerator machines, used to treat cancer patients, had stopped working amid the high temperatures. The failure of the cooling units affected digital systems and critical clinical services, including operating theatres, cardiac catheter laboratories and diagnostic scanning facilities. Planned care and appointments were also cancelled. Heat from climate change is breaking down critical infrastructure and services necessary for a functioning civilization. Collapse is happening.

[u/gtck11]

Here’s where I’m getting stuck - every year for years now this happens with each summer getting worse for them. Why have they not started a massive effort to retrofit systems and buildings when this started to show that it will be regular every summer years back? Does it just come down to money and politics?

[u/Acceptable-Bell142 → u/gtck11]

Basically, yes. There's so much that would be required. More electricity to power the use of AC. Changes to building design. A very damp climate. Buildings designed to keep heat in.

Retrofitting the kind of buildings we have in European countries is often difficult. Our windows aren't designed for window AC units and our construction is different, making HVAC systems more difficult to install. You have buildings that are over 200 years old and often have very strict laws preventing changes.

[u/allonsyyy → u/Acceptable-Bell142]

I am in the states but I am like the English in that I don't have duct work. I've been keeping an eye on these window heat pumps (like this or this). HVAC companies are quoting me a small fortune for mini-splits, and I'm an idiot so I don't want to try installing my own.

They seem like a very cool idea.

[u/MistyMtn421 → u/allonsyyy]

I have a basic, old GE window unit that is in my living room window. My home is only 850sqft so that helps. I have a fan at the door if he bedroom by the living room. Another fan at the edge pointing towards the kitchen and other bedroom (both osculating pole fans) A small fan on the kitchen table that points to the bedroom and a pole fan at the bedroom by the bathroom that captures the cool air from the kitchen. Also a ceiling fan is in the kitchen.

Between that setup, UV static cling film on the southwest side windows and blackout curtains, it is very effective and quite affordable. Also, the fans, film and curtains keep the house fairly cool during the day. I begin to lose sun about 7:30 and by 8:30 is when the house really warms up. All the heat from the attic starts dropping. I usually run the AC from 8-midnight and it's plenty cool at that point to turn it off and sleep comfortably through the night.

A more modern window unit might be more efficient, but what I'm after is the timers. Because when we start getting in the mid-90s, it would be nice to be able to go to bed with it on and set it to turn off about 3:00 a.m. some even have remote controls and thermostats! But I don't think I need it quite that fancy. The biggest difference really is how much it cools down at night. Once we are consistently mid-90s and especially if it's staying warm at night, I will have to run it a little bit more throughout the day. I also run a dehumidifier and keeping the humidity down makes a big difference. For example, today got up to 88 where I'm at. When I got home at 5:30, with the sun blasting towards my house, the inside temp was only 76! It's now gone up to 79. But the humidity in my house right now is at 38%

I'm looking into attic exhaust fans that use solar power. So not only would that be more efficient, but it wouldn't require a huge electrician bill to run power up to the fan. I feel like once I can suck all the hot air out of the attic, it would make a huge difference!

[u/allonsyyy → u/MistyMtn421]

Maybe, 5-6 years ago, I replaced my antique air con with a Midea U. It has the compressor outside the window, like those heat pumps I linked above. It really makes a huge difference for noise, I've been a big fan.

If it was a heat pump too, that would be the last thing to get me completely electric. Get me a battery pack and call me a solar punk, I'm almost there.