Heat-Health Alerting system - guidance for commissioners
These heat-specific insights and actions are tailored for commissioners and have been derived from the Weather-Health Alerting system. This is part of the alerts and warnings section of the hazard: heat.
Applies to England
CCHS navigation menu:
CCHS homepage
Topic: climate-related hazards
Hazard: all climate-related hazards, heat
Part of: summary - Heat-Health Alerting system
Key resources for Heat-Health Alerting (HHA) system:
- Summary - HHA action cards for commissioners
More roles:
- HHA system - voluntary and community sector (action cards)
- HHA system - health and social care providers (action cards)
- HHA system - national government (action cards)
More content:
Who these action cards are for
These HHA action cards summarise the suggested actions that commissioners of health or social care settings (for example commissioners of health and social care services, local authorities, directors of public health, Integrated Care Systems) should consider to prepare for and respond to each HHA alert type.
What these action cards can be used for
The action card for the voluntary and community sectors has information on:
- actions to consider all year round to support summer preparedness
- actions to consider for pre-summer readiness and summer preparedness
- actions to consider for a yellow alert
- actions to consider for an amber alert
- actions to consider for a red alert
The actions to consider for a yellow, amber or red alert are also shown on the summary action card.
The actions are illustrative and organisations including the NHS, local authorities, Local Health Resilience Partnerships (LHRPs) and Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) should ensure that local plans are developed and in place for the coming summer as part of wider preparedness and response to extreme heat events.
In a clinical or care setting with a patient or client, staff should exercise professional judgement and respond appropriately to that patient’s needs. Staff should be aware of the effects of severe heat on health and when they notice a client or patient at risk of overheating, for example, from living in a home that is too hot, that they know what immediate actions to take to ensure safety and that there are clear guidelines for them to make other necessary arrangements (for example, addressing housing issues) in the immediate and longer term.
Other information
These action cards apply to England. They were updated in 2024 and are scheduled for review in 2029.