The Daily Mirror has today reported a huge rise in the number of hypothermia cases in England.
The statistics published in the Mirror today show that there was an 82% increase in hypothermia cases in December 2022, compared with December 2021 and a 36% increase in hypothermia cases comparing 2022 to 2021 as a whole.
The figures come following the inquest of the death of a 87-year-old woman who died in December 2022 after reportedly refusing to turn on her heating for fear of rising energy costs.
A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:
“From Awaab Ishak to Barbara Bolton, the deadly impact of living in cold damp homes has been made painfully clear in recent months.
“The energy bills crisis is now a public health crisis and without additional support for those in fuel poverty we will continue to see thousands of excess winter deaths caused by people living in Dickensian conditions.
“The Government must step in to speed up roll out of insulation measures and reform Britain’s broken energy system this summer. Without this, hypothermia cases will soar again next winter.”