For many care providers, summer planning has traditionally meant thinking about holidays, staffing levels and keeping services running smoothly.
But the UK’s increasingly extreme summer temperatures are adding another consideration: how prepared is your service for prolonged periods of heat?
This is particularly relevant this summer. England is currently experiencing another period of extreme heat, with amber heat-health alerts in place across large parts of the country and temperatures forecast to reach the high 30s in some areas.
For care providers, extreme heat isn’t simply a weather problem. It can affect the people receiving care, the staff delivering it and the ability of services to operate normally.
Why does heat matter in care?
Older people and people living with certain health conditions can be more vulnerable to the effects of hot weather.
Heat can contribute to dehydration, heat exhaustion and heatstroke, while also increasing risks associated with existing health conditions. The UK Health Security Agency advises social care managers to have plans in place for supporting people before and during periods of hot weather.
For providers, that means considering more than simply keeping rooms cool.
A period of extreme heat can affect:
- Staffing and travel arrangements
- Indoor temperatures
- Hydration and wellbeing
- Medication management
- Daily activities
- Home visits and community care
- Building ventilation and cooling
- Business continuity
What about the care workforce?
The people providing care are affected by extreme heat too.
Working in an overheated environment can make physically demanding tasks more difficult and can contribute to tiredness, discomfort and reduced concentration.
For home care teams, there is another consideration. Staff may be travelling between different locations throughout the day, potentially spending time outdoors or in vehicles before entering homes that may themselves become very warm.
Recent reports have also highlighted concerns from healthcare workers about working conditions during the current heatwave, showing that extreme temperatures can place pressure on the wider health and care workforce.
Is your heatwave plan practical?
Having a policy in place is one thing. Knowing how it works during a busy shift is another.
The UKHSA’s action card for health and social care providers recommends preparing throughout the year and having arrangements ready before periods of extreme heat. It covers different levels of Heat-Health Alert, including yellow, amber and red alerts.
It may be worth considering:
Are staff familiar with the plan?
A plan isn’t particularly useful if staff don’t know where to find it or what their role is during an alert.
Can staffing arrangements adapt?
Unexpected sickness, travel disruption or increased demand can make already busy shifts more difficult to cover.
Are vulnerable people identified?
Staff need to know which individuals may require closer monitoring during periods of extreme heat.
Can activities be changed?
The UKHSA recommends considering cooler times of day for activities and limiting exposure to the hottest part of the day.
Are buildings and equipment ready?
Ventilation, fans, blinds, cooling systems and access to drinking water can all become particularly important.
Extreme weather and workforce planning
Heatwaves also demonstrate why workforce planning needs some flexibility.
A service may have enough staff on paper but still experience pressure when circumstances change.
Transport disruption, staff illness, increased care needs or changes to daily routines can all affect staffing requirements.
Having access to additional staffing options can therefore form part of a wider business continuity plan. This isn’t about replacing an existing workforce. It’s about having another option available when circumstances change unexpectedly.
Could extreme heat become part of everyday care planning?
With the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events becoming a growing consideration, preparing for hot weather may need to become less of a last-minute exercise and more of a routine part of care planning.
That could mean reviewing plans before summer, making sure staff know what to look out for, checking that buildings are suitable and considering how staffing arrangements would work during a prolonged period of extreme weather.
The question may no longer be “What will we do if it gets very hot?”
It could be “How prepared are we for the next period of extreme heat?”
At Halo Staffing, we understand that workforce requirements can change quickly. Our staffing solutions can support health and social care organisations with temporary and permanent staffing requirements, helping services maintain flexibility when circumstances change.
Because good care planning isn’t only about preparing for the expected. It’s also about being ready when conditions change.
Find out more about our staffing solutions service by clicking the button below.
