NHS summer heat pressure has pushed A&E attendances to their busiest summer ever recorded with over 2.4 million attendances in each of May, June, and July — as repeated heatwaves pushed emergency departments past even typical winter pressure levels.
England’s NHS has just recorded its three busiest months for Accident and Emergency department ever, with more than 2.4 million patients attending emergency departments in each of May, June, and July 2026 due to repeated summer heatwaves. (1✔ ✔Trusted Source
NHS keeps its cool as temperatures and demand soar
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How Bad Was This Summer for NHS A&E Departments?
July alone saw a record 2.5 million A&E attendances, arriving amid the summer’s fifth heatwave, with temperatures hitting as high as 38°C in parts of the country. The UK’s hottest day of the year fell during this stretch too, with Kew Gardens recording 38.1°C.
This prompted a rare amber heat warning from the Met Office across a corridor stretching from London to Sheffield, taking in the Southeast, East Midlands, East of England, West Midlands, and South Yorkshire.
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London Ambulance Service Saw a Rapid Demand
Ambulance services felt the strain just as acutely. Crews handled 829,675 incidents in July, the fourth-highest total on record and the second highest ever outside winter, while 999 call volumes rose 6.5% compared to July last year.
The pressure wasn’t confined to July as during June’s heatwave, demand on the London Ambulance Service climbed beyond levels last seen at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite the record pressure, more than three-quarters of A&E patients were seen within the standard four-hour window by NHS, and a record 2.65 million diagnostic tests and checks were carried out in a single month.
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Corridor Care and 12-Hour Waits: The Numbers Behind the Headlines
An average of 2,300 patients a day received so-called “corridor care” in A&E during July, with a further 728 patients a day cared for elsewhere in hospital wards outside a designated bed space — a combined average of 3,028 patients a day. That’s a slight improvement on June’s 3,188 a day, but it marks the second consecutive month the figure has stayed above 3,000. (2✔ ✔Trusted Source
Corridor Care – Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Reports
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The data published by NHS England, counts patients who have spent 45 minutes or more being cared for outside a clinically appropriate, safe setting — meaning without reliable access to privacy, food, water, toilets, or the ability to dim lights and reduce noise for sleep.
Some 47,438 patients in England waited more than 12 hours from the decision to admit them to actually being admitted in July — up 34% on the same month last year, equivalent to roughly 1,530 people every single day.
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust recorded the highest number of these long waits (2,187), followed by Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust (1,996) and The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (1,300).
At the other end of the scale, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust logged just two such waits, with Gateshead Health and Somerset NHS Foundation Trusts logging three each.
Sarah Scobie, deputy director of research at the Nuffield Trust, said July’s record 2.5 million attendances represented a huge amount of pressure for staff and uncomfortable waits for patients in unbearably hot conditions.
Dr Ragit Varia, president-elect of the Society for Acute Medicine, put it more bluntly: with patients left waiting far too long in overcrowded emergency departments, corridors, and other unsuitable spaces month after month, he said the NHS has gone “from permawinter to permaheat,” with no quiet season left at all.
NHS Staff Are Feeling the Heat Too
It isn’t only patients bearing the brunt of this summer’s heat. Unions have warned that staff are being forced to work in what the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has called “inhumane” conditions, with reports of nurses collapsing and others suffering seizures on shift.
Equipment hasn’t been spared either— scanners and hospital IT systems have reportedly broken down under the heat, adding to the strain on already stretched departments.
In testimonies shared with the RCN, nurses described being left “dripping in sweat from head to toe” while treating patients, and having to physically relocate medications because wards had become too hot— a real concern, since overheated drugs can lose some of their effectiveness.
One nurse reported collapsing with dehydration after a shift on a ward with no ventilation, while two nurses managing pre-existing health conditions said the heat triggered seizures.
RCN general secretary Nicola Ranger called the testimonies a “wake-up call,” saying that nursing staff collapsing, feeling dizzy, and falling ill on shift shows just how badly they are being let down. She pointed to decades of under-investment leaving large parts of the NHS and social care estate in disrepair and “utterly unprepared for extreme temperatures,” with many staff still working without any air conditioning at all.
What Did Health Secretary Yvette Cooper Say?
Health and Social Care Secretary Yvette Cooper thanked NHS staff for their “extraordinary efforts over this hugely challenging summer,” while acknowledging the scale of the strain: “Today’s figures also show how much of an additional burden is placed on the NHS during periods of extreme heat.”
Cooper indicated a shift in how the government plans to approach seasonal NHS pressure going forward: “I have made clear that we must start planning for summer pressures in the NHS in the same way we do for winter.” She added that she is working with NHS leaders to ensure staffing, beds, and emergency services are prepared for the heat-driven demand now expected to recur.
Cooper also pointed to signs of resilience elsewhere in the system despite the heat: the overall NHS waiting list fell for the first time in two months, down to an estimated 7.27 million treatments (relating to 6.15 million patients) by the end of June, from 7.28 million treatments a month earlier. The proportion of patients starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral also edged up slightly, to 65.8%.
Why Does Extreme Heat Send So Many People to A&E?
NHS leaders have attributed much of the summer’s surge to heat-related conditions, including dehydration, heatstroke, and complications in people with existing heart or kidney conditions. Prolonged heat places particular strain on: (3✔ ✔Trusted Source
NHS advice to help people stay well in hot weather as temperatures rise across the South East
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- Older adults and people living alone, who may not notice worsening symptoms as quickly
- People with chronic heart, lung, or kidney conditions
- Infants and young children
- Anyone unable to keep cool or hydrated during peak heat hours
NHS National Medical Director Professor Frankie Swords urged the public to take basic precautions during peak heat: staying hydrated, avoiding sun exposure during the hottest part of the day especially for clinically vulnerable people.
She added that while the NHS remains busy, it is still there for anyone who needs it and encouraged the public to reserve 999 for genuine life-threatening emergencies and use NHS 111 otherwise.
Is This Becoming the New Normal for the NHS?
The scale of this summer’s demand suggests heat-related pressure on emergency care may no longer be an occasional spike, but a recurring seasonal pattern the health service needs to plan around directly — much as it already does for winter flu and cold-weather admissions. Whether that shift translates into permanent changes to NHS staffing, bed capacity, and emergency planning will likely become clearer as autumn approaches and the current heatwave data is reviewed in full.
References:
- NHS keeps its cool as temperatures and demand soar- (https://www.england.nhs.uk/2026/08/nhs-keeps-its-cool-as-temperatures-and-demand-soar/)
- Corridor Care – Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Reports – (https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/corridor-care-urgent-and-emergency-care-daily-situation-reports/)
- NHS advice to help people stay well in hot weather as temperatures rise across the South East- (https://www.england.nhs.uk/south-east/2026/08/12/nhs-advice-to-help-people-stay-well-in-hot-weather-as-temperatures-rise-across-the-south-east/)
Source- NHS England, UK Department of Health and Social Care