Hospitals in England declare critical incidents as machines and IT fail in heat

NHS buildings must be upgraded to withstand extreme heat, said the clinical vice-president of the Royal College of Physicians. Photograph: Jeff Moore/PA

Doctors have set out the disastrous impact extreme heat is having on the NHS in England, with radiotherapy machines and MRI scanners failing, critical IT systems stalling and cooling units that serve entire hospitals breaking down.

The hot weather has also prompted a surge in admissions and people arriving at A&E, causing severe overcrowding in some places and exacerbating heat-related pressures on infrastructure.