ESC scales up warm homes prescription pilot

Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) has revealed it is scaling up a pilot scheme in which the NHS prescribes warmth to vulnerable households.

The Warm Home Prescription pilot was launched in Gloucestershire last winter with an aim to determine whether paying the heating costs of vulnerable people is more cost effective than paying for their health care if they fall ill from a cold home.

Figures published last year by the Building Research Establishment suggested that cold homes cost the NHS in England almost £860 million annually. Furthermore, charity National Energy Action has previously published figures suggesting cold homes result in an average of 10,000 deaths each winter in the UK.

The initial pilot of the Warm Home Prescription, conducted by ESC, NHS social prescribers and local energy charity Severn Wye, saw 28 patients prescribed warmth to reduce the risk that the cold would cause harm and an admission to hospital.

During this period, more than 2,000 people with similar health conditions in Gloucestershire fell ill and were admitted to hospital for emergency treatment, costing the NHS more than £6 million.

Following the success of the pilot, the scheme is to be expanded in Gloucestershire, with up to 150 people across the county with cold-sensitive health conditions set to receive support between November 2022 and March 2023.

ESC is also testing an even bigger version across the Tees Valley in England and Aberdeenshire in Scotland, with around 1,000 people being supported.

Rose Chard, fair futures programme lead at Energy Systems Catapult, said: “If we buy the energy people need but can’t afford, they can keep warm at home and stay out of hospital.

“That would target support to where it’s needed, save money overall and take pressure off the health service. The scheme will also find homes we can insulate to cut running costs and emissions in future.”

Owen Callender, head of affordable warmth at Severn Wye Energy Agency, said: “Delivered alongside fuel poverty schemes that incorporate energy efficiency interventions, the impact of this project will be huge.

“Working with social prescribers means we’re able to support clients we’ve never been in touch with before, reducing their bills and their fuel stress.

“At a time when the NHS is recovering from the impact of the pandemic, this project will have enormous social, environmental, and economic impacts, but most importantly it will allow us to improve the wellbeing of some of society’s most vulnerable people.”