Fuel poverty charity National Energy Action (NEA) has launched an initiative which will see it team up with gas networks and healthcare professionals to provide energy advice.
The Warm Homes, Healthy Futures project was unveiled at an event at the House of Lords earlier this week. It will connect health professionals and local public health bodies with energy advice and other specialist services, ultimately improving health outcomes for consumers.
Figures published in 2021 by the Building Research Establishment suggest that cold homes cost the NHS in England almost £860 million annually. Furthermore, NEA has previously published figures suggesting cold homes result in an average of 10,000 deaths each winter in the UK.
NEA said the energy crisis has resulted in a “critical challenge” across Great Britain, with too many consumers having their existing medical conditions exacerbated by cold, damp and energy inefficient homes.
Under the scheme NEA will work with its sister organisation in Scotland and will be supported by gas distribution networks Cadent, Northern Gas Networks, SGN and Wales & West Utilities.
The project aims to tackle the root causes of fuel poverty and will see consumers offered energy advice, income maximisation, servicing, and home improvements.
“But the project is bigger, more ambitious, than just rolling out our existing services. By addressing the root causes of fuel poverty and targeting those most vulnerable, we aim to make a tangible difference to tens of thousands of people’s lives. And we plan to leave a lasting legacy,” NEA said.
The first phase of the programme begins in May.
It follows a similar project in Leicester where NEA works with local authorities and NHS professionals.
Adam Scorer, chief executive of NEA, said: “The importance of this project goes far beyond the individual packages of support and measures that National Energy Action can deliver. It is also the vital collaborations, lines of communications and partnerships – nationally and locally – that makes this project distinctive.
“Not isolated pilots, but something that engages health professionals, local delivery bodies and energy support at scale; that values the lessons about how you develop, value and sustain collaboration and how you elevate the health implications of fuel poverty across the health system and with policy makers.”
Mark Belmega, director of social purpose and sustainability at Cadent, said: “We are at the heart of so many communities and every day, our colleagues enter thousands of people’s homes helping to keep them safe, warm and connected.
“However, doing our day job is simply not enough right now. So, we must act to support those that have been impacted by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.”
Mark Horsley, chief executive of Northern Gas Networks, said: “We’re delighted to be working with National Energy Action and the other UK gas distribution networks to lead ‘Warm Homes, Healthy Futures’, our most ambitious collaborative project to date, which will help to understand and address the root causes of fuel poverty and target those who need support most, improving the quality of life for thousands of people living not just here in the North, but throughout the UK.”
Mark Wild, SGN chief executive, said: “This partnership brings together our knowledge, resources, and determination to make a genuine difference for the most vulnerable people in our communities.
“By working together and combining our knowledge in health and dealing with fuel poverty, we’re tackling the cause head on. Our goal is to ease fuel poverty’s harmful effects on health and wellness, and leave a lasting mark by integrating our efforts into healthcare services.”
Partnerships between healthcare professionals and the energy sector is not a new concept.
In recent years Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) ran a pilot project in which health workers prescribed warm homes for vulnerable people at risk from a lack of heat.
ESC ran the project with the NHS in Gloucestershire and energy charity Severn Wye and said it delivered “remarkable” results.
The initial pilot saw 28 patients prescribed warmth to reduce the risk that the cold would cause harm and an admission to hospital.
Following the success of the pilot, the scheme was subsequently scaled up.