Climate change impacts on health and care systems
Changes in the climate are linked to health and wellbeing directly through weather patterns and climate events but also indirectly through changes to ecosystems, agriculture, infrastructure, migration and the economy. In recent history, some of the hottest average global surface temperatures since records began have been recorded and the Met Office have confirmed that 2014 was the hottest year on record for the UK. There is concern that a changing climate may lead to significant changes in health and care needs.
Contributing trends and developments
As temperatures rise, weather patterns shift, and extreme weather becomes more commonplace, there is a concern that infrastructure and policy in the UK is slow to respond to the changing climate. The changing climate could be contributing to changing migration patterns both into and out of the UK.
Potential future situation
Climate change will continue to advance and this could present many different challenges to health, potentially impacting services and the workforce in different ways. The UK population and infrastructures may be exposed to conditions they have limited experience of., Examples include increased risk from heatstroke due to rising temperatures, or respiratory illness from pollution in towns and cities and also power outages and transport disruption.
A changing UK climate and ecosystem may also leads to changes in the geographic spread of infectious and zoonotic disease, increasing the risk of many conditions such as cholera and TB. Linked to this, international migration may increase, causing further shifts to disease burdens which would be a serious threat to public health.
In an extreme situation, the governments and services may be slow to adapt. There could be severe infrastructure risks including disruptions to power supplies, telecommunications and even the availability of food and water.
Vulnerable people such as the elderly and the socioeconomically deprived are at greater risk from the changing conditions. Therefore climatic changes and risks to health are amplified by the ageing population.
Size of impact
Level of uncertainty
Proposed workforce impact
All health and care workforces would need to be responsive to growing and changing health and care demands. An increase in incidents and accidents may lead to growing demand for emergency response services and workforces.
New threats from infectious diseases could pose new public health risks, requiring more research, understanding and intervention.
Sources or references
Met Office http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate-guide
NHS Sustainable Development Unit, 2013, Adaptation to climate change – planning guidance for health and social care organisations
http://www.sduhealth.org.uk/documents/publications/2014/Adaptation_Guidance_12_Mar_2014.pdf
Public Health England, 2012, Health effects of climate change in the UK
IPCC Chapter 8 ‘Human Health’ http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg2/ar4-wg2-chapter8.pdf
Some of the information in this section is provided by stakeholders and expert groups, and does not necessarily represent the views of the CfWI.
