Southampton General Hospital teetered on the brink of disaster during June's intense heatwave, leaving staff struggling to cope. According to senior medical official David Higgs, the hospital was "very close to collapse", with pressures reaching unprecedented levels. In a stark warning, he likened the situation to being "in many ways almost worse than Covid".
Mr Higgs highlighted how the hospital's emergency department became overwhelmed with patients, while simultaneously facing significant challenges in discharging those ready to leave. He described the bottleneck created by high admissions and low discharges as a "front door wedged open and a back door wedged closed", severely impacting the hospital's capacity.
On 25 June, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust was forced to declare a critical incident due to the heat, necessitating the cancellation of some planned operations and appointments. By 29 June, the trust reported that its hospitals were at full capacity, with patients facing waits of up to 12 hours. The critical incident was eventually stood down on 1 July.
Mr Higgs also drew attention to the wider impact on healthcare services, stating that primary care was "overflooded" and the ambulance service "pretty much collapsed" under the demand. Furthermore, he raised concerns about school closures during the heatwave, which caused difficulties for hospital staff with children. Notably, provisions for key workers' children, which existed during the pandemic, were not routinely available.
Kay Reeve, Southampton City Council's director of adult social care, confirmed that the current system lacks specific support functions for children of key workers. In a positive note, Mr Higgs acknowledged the support received from local businesses, including Costco, which donated essential items to assist staff and patients during the severe conditions.