Heat-Health Alerting system: guidance for health and social care providers
These heat-specific insights and actions are tailored for health and social care providers 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 health and social care providers
More roles:
- HHA system - voluntary and community sector (action cards)
- HHA system - commissioners (action cards)
- HHA system - national government (action cards)
More content:
Who these action cards are for
These Heat-Health Alert (HHA) action cards summarise the suggested actions that providers of health or social care settings should consider to prepare for and respond to each HHA alert type. These are primarily intended for managers working in:
- hospitals
- social care, care homes and other residential settings
- organisations providing primary or community health services operating from fixed sites such as GP surgeries
- organisations delivering care to people in their homes
Not all actions recommended will apply to managers working in all the settings listed above; the actions are separated by setting where relevant. Managers should carefully consider if those actions apply to the settings in which they work, for the health and wellbeing of their clients or patients and staff. Managers should read this action card alongside guidance for social care, for healthcare settings, for people who sleep rough and others as appropriate.
What these action cards can be used for
The action card for health and social care providers 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 cards for specific groups:
- Heat-Health Alert summary action card for services delivering care to people in their homes
- Heat-Health Alert summary action card for hospitals and healthcare in the community
- Heat-Health Alert summary action card for care homes and other adult social care residential settings
Organisations including the NHS, local authorities, Local Health Resilience Partnerships (LHRPs) and Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) should use these actions to develop local plans and put them in place before 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 what they can do to protect a patient or client. When they notice a client or patient at risk of overheating, for example, from living in a home or room that is too hot, they should know what to do immediately to ensure safety, and how to make other 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.