Health Services: Weather
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the resilience of the NHS to (a) heatwaves, (b) flooding and (c) other climate-related risks.
Answered by Mrs Sharon Hodgson
Climate change poses a growing risk to population health and to the National Health Service’s ability to deliver services, including through heatwaves, flooding, and other adverse weather events. Following the publication of the 2025 Health and Climate Adaptation Report, NHS England has published the NHS Climate Change Risk Assessment Tool and the Climate Adaptation Framework to support trusts in minimising climate-related risks to patients, staff, and services. The 2025 Health and Climate Adaptation Report, the NHS Climate Change Risk Assessment Tool, and the Climate Adaptation Framework are all available, respectively, at the following three links:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/health-and-climate-adaptation-reports/
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/climate-adaptation-resources/
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/climate-adaptation-resources/
In addition, all NHS trusts have Green Plans, with adaptation planning strengthened in the 2025 Green Plan Guidance, and NHS organisations are required to have effective arrangements in place for adverse weather as part of the NHS Core Standards for Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response. The 2025 Green Plan Guidance and the NHS Core Standards for Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response are available at the following two links:
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