Policy report: Building a climate-resilient health system in the UK

This report outlines strategic recommendations to enhance the resilience of the UK healthcare system to climate change, focusing on adapting infrastructure, workforce preparedness, and community engagement. This is necessary with the increasing frequency and intensity of climate-related events - which pose significant challenges to the UK healthcare system. Adaptation and mitigation are both crucial to tackling climate change. For the National Health Service (NHS), adaptation protects healthcare services during events like heatwaves and floods, while mitigation cuts emissions to meet net-zero goals.

The seven recommendations are as follows:

1. Provide sustainable funding
2. Strengthen research on climate adaptation
3. Enhance workforce preparedness
4. Promote public health resilience
5. Foster cross-sector collaboration
6. Integrate climate adaptation in health policies
7. Strengthen healthcare infrastructure

These seven recommendations aim to build a climate resilient health system to protect health now and for future generations, ensuring that everyone, everywhere, can access care in a fairer, greener, and healthier society.