Demand for health heat exhaustion advice soaring

With much of England experiencing sweltering temperatures in the past few days, and more set to come later this week, NHS England has warned that visits to the ‘heat exhaustion’ section of its website have soared.

Its heat exhaustion and heatstroke health advice page saw visits triple in the past week, NHS England said, averaging one visit every six seconds. There were 109,096 visits to the page from 9-15 June, compared with 34,066 the previous week (2-8 June).

The number of people seeking heat rash or prickly heat advice almost doubled, from 34,478 to 67,132 page visits during the same time period.

Both the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office extended a heat-health alert across England until 9am today (Monday 19 June).

A yellow alert was in place, pointing to increased health risks for those over the age of 65 or with pre-existing health conditions, such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Although thundery storms and showers will bring some respite to many areas in the next few days, the hot weather and temperatures are set to return later in the week.

Outdoor workers in particular need to take extra care during hot weather, with the Health and Safety Executive recently providing advice to employers on how to keep workers, both indoor and outdoor, safe and productive during the hot weather.

Heat exhaustion does not usually need emergency medical help if you can cool down within 30 minutes, the NHS advises. If it turns into heatstroke, however, it needs to be treated as an emergency.

Signs of heat exhaustion include tiredness, dizziness, feeling sick, and fast breathing or heartbeat. Advice includes:

• Drink plenty of cold drinks, especially when exercising.
• Take cool baths or showers.
• Wear light-coloured, loose clothing.
• Sprinkle water over skin or clothes.
• Avoid the sun between 11am and 3pm.
• Avoid excess alcohol.
• Avoid extreme exercise.

Duncan Burton, NHS England’s deputy chief nursing officer, said: “We know there is a high risk of heat exhaustion or heatstroke during hot weather especially among children, older people and those with long-term conditions like diabetes or heart problems.

“Keeping the body cool and drinking plenty of fluids is vitally important, as well as dressing sensibly, using high-factor sun screen and limiting the amount of time you spend in the sun to avoid the risk of sunburn and to prevent skin cancer.

“With heat exhaustion, it is important to cool the person down, hydrate them and see if their condition improves after 30 minutes. If it doesn’t, we would always advise seeking medical attention by calling 111 or 999 in an emergency,” he added.

Separately, the charity Melanoma Focus has warned that, with budgets tight for many during the cost-of-living crisis, the rising cost of sunscreen might be deterring some people from using it, potentially putting them at greater risk of skin cancer.

In a poll, half of UK adults thought sunscreen was too expensive and most (67%) said they would use it more if it was cheaper.

The charity has called on the government to remove VAT for high-factor sunscreens to make them more accessible to those who cannot otherwise afford them.