Health: Weather
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people aged 65 and over have been hospitalised for illnesses caused by cold weather in each of the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth
While the information on hospital admissions is not available in the format requested, NHS England publishes data on the number of admissions due to external causes, including exposure to excessive natural cold. The following table shows the number of finished consultant episodes due to exposure to excessive natural cold for those aged 65 years old and over, from 2018/19 to 2022/23:
Year | Number of finished consultant episodes |
2022/23 | 754 |
2021/22 | 584 |
2020/21 | 692 |
2019/20 | 577 |
2018/19 | 535 |
Source: published by NHS Digital, with further information available at the following link:
Note: this does not include hospital admissions due to cold weather exacerbating existing conditions
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