Party challenges coalition to stand up to energy companies as 40% more people admitted to hospital with condition
Figures show that 28,354 episodes of
hypothermia were treated in 2012/13. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty
Images
Hospitals have seen cases
of hypothermia rise by more than a third to 28,000 under the coalition, amid
soaring energy bills and harsh
winters, according to figures uncovered by Labour.
Luciana Berger, the shadow public health minister, said a rise in episodes of the life-threatening condition were "deeply shocking". She called for more action to help vulnerable people heat their homes.
Figures released by the Department of Health show that 28,354 episodes of hypothermia were treated in 2012/13 – an increase of 25% on the year before and 40% on the year before that. Many of these relate to the over-70s and babies, who are more susceptible to the cold.
Campaigners are warning that even more people could suffer this winter, after the Big Six energy companies raised their gas and electricity prices.
The government is set to publish figures on the number of "excess winter deaths", which are expected to be in the tens of thousands. These do not break down how many were due to cold homes or the causes of mortality, but give an indication of the severity of a winter.
Jane Ellison, a Conservative public health minister, said: "One possible factor in the increase in finished consultant episodes for hypothermia in 2013 is the longer than usual period of low temperatures of that year."
However, Berger said the statistics are "utterly scandalous", she said. "This shouldn't be happening in a civilised society … Too many old and vulnerable people lose their lives every winter due to living in homes that are too cold. Many more people all across the UK will be forced to choose between heating and eating this winter because of David Cameron's failure to stand up to the energy companies.
"As the weather gets colder, ministers need to urgently act to help people struggling to keep warm this winter."
Other statistics held by the Department of Health show that 2,067 adult cases were given a "primary" diagnosis of hypothermia in hospital due to the cold in 2012/13 – more than double the number of cases 10 years ago and a third higher than the 1,500 cases in 2011/12. Pensioners represent the majority of these hospital cases, with the average age of patients recorded as 73 years old.
Peter Smith, a spokesman for National Energy Action, a fuel poverty campaign group, said the figures were the tip of the iceberg. "For every older person who dies or is admitted to hospital because of cold-related illness, many others – including around 1 million families – are living with the insidious and devastating effects of fuel poverty."
"The fact that some of our northern European counterparts experience much harsher winters than us and have nowhere near the same numbers of excess winter deaths or levels of fuel poverty suggests that these statistics are not simply an inevitable fact of winter, and yet each year we are faced with similar figures."
A Department of Health spokesperson said: "Last winter had particularly long periods of cold weather, and all across Europe we saw increased cases of flu and respiratory conditions.
"This year we are helping people keep warm and we've put extra money in to help the NHS deal with the increased pressure the cold weather brings. Winter is always tough, but the NHS is well prepared."
Guardian
