Winter fuel payment hypothermia plea to Reeves after 900 freezing Scots taken to hospital

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Old age campaigners have urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to bring back the winter fuel payment after 900 freezing Scots were taken to hospital with hypothermia in a month last year.

Almost 900 people over 50 were whisked to hospital by paramedics for hypothermia treatment last December, shock figures from the Scottish Ambulance Service show. Campaign group Age Scotland, which obtained the data, warned this happened at a time when the recently-axed Winter Fuel Payment was still a universal benefit received by all pensioners.

With the loss of this “vital financial support” for hundreds of thousands of older Scots this winter, they say they are concerned more pensioners will be forced into “risky and damaging choices” to cope with energy bills through winter. It comes as separate new figures reveal the poorest households use 21 per cent less energy than other households during cold weather - leaving them exposed to potentially dangerous cold and damp homes.

Academic research listed the sick, disabled and the elderly as among the households most at risk of “critically low” energy usage. The figures uncovered by Age Scotland show that in a single month, December 2023, 897 Scots over 50 were taken to hospital suffering from low body temperature.

These included 211 Scots in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area, 114 in NHS Lothian, 96 in the Grampian region, 91 in Lanarkshire, 70 in Ayrshire and Arran, 69 in Fife, 65 in the Highlands, 57 in Tayside, 48 in Dumfries and Galloway, 37 in Forth Valley and 22 cases in the Borders. There were six cases in Orkney and four apiece in the Western Isles and Shetland.

With an estimated 200,000 pensioners in Scotland living under or close to the poverty line about to lose the Winter Fuel Poverty, the campaign group is urging Labour to reverse its “rushed and ill-advised” switch to means-testing the benefit ahead of this week’s UK budget.

Age Scotland’s Chief Executive, Katherine Crawford, said: “It’s absolutely shocking that so many older people were taken to hospital due to hypothermic symptoms last year, and highlights the extreme risks older people face staying warm at home. Hypothermia is entirely preventable, and yet bitterly cold temperatures paired with the soaring cost of living were life-threatening last winter.

“Now, with the loss of the universal Winter Fuel Payment, we are seriously concerned about an increasing number of older people reluctant or unable to heat their homes to a comfortable level for fear of running up unmanageable energy bills, putting their health in jeopardy. Living in cold or damp conditions can put older people at high risk of flu and respiratory illness, as well as increasing instances of heart attack and strokes.

“It can also aggravate symptoms of underlying health conditions and cause them to worsen over time. With the NHS and social care services under unprecedented strain, we believe keeping people out of hospital by preventing illnesses should be a key focus for both the UK and Scottish governments.

She added: “Our message to the UK Government ahead of the Budget is clear – this is the last chance to save a vital means of financial support and ensure older people aren’t left in the cold this winter.”

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