Scaling Warm Home Prescription® can deliver a reduction in use of the health service

The deaths of 28,000 people each year could be avoided and the burden on the NHS eased if we took preventative action on cold homes in the UK. Energy Systems Catapult is calling for government to trial its Warm Home Prescription® (WHP) service on a national level in a bid to turn the tide on this spate of cold home-related deaths.

The Catapult is urging Ofgem, NHS, government, and energy suppliers, to come together to deliver:

• A national trial of WHP, delivering energy credit and home energy improvements to the most vulnerable
• Using large-scale data sets to identify vulnerable households that are eligible for support based on their health (avoiding placing any burden on frontline staff such as GPs)
• Targeted delivery of existing support mechanisms and a simpler means of accessing such support

Excess Winter Deaths (EWDs) are about three times higher in the coldest homes and approximately 70% of EWDs are attributable to cardiovascular and respiratory disease. As of 2024, there are 7.6 million people with heart or circulatory disease living in the UK.

WHP – invented by the Catapult in 2020 – has evolved from crediting the energy accounts of vulnerable people to delivering tailored energy efficiency measures and low carbon heating improvements across four local NHS areas. The service has delivered consistent results and outcomes for vulnerable people with conditions made worse by the cold.

Over four years, WHP has reached over 1,000 people, and in the latest trial 95% of WHP recipients kept temperatures in the home above 16 degrees Celsius – avoiding putting their health at extreme risk. This has the benefit of keeping the medically vulnerable out of hospital in a cost-efficient way. An independent assessment of WHP found that comparing this monetised societal benefit to the estimated cost of the WHP project suggests for every £1 of expenditure, WHP supported £5.10 of wellbeing social value to patients.

Dr Rose Chard, Senior Advisor Fair Futures at Energy Systems Catapult, said, “with proven results, WHP should be properly funded; we cannot afford to revisit this issue year after year. It’s time to put this debate to bed and provide targeted support that works on a national scale.”

A national trial would go beyond paying the energy bills of the vulnerable and would actively aim to improve the thermal efficiency of a proportion of the UK’s housing stock. This would reduce the number of people living in cold homes that put their lives and health at risk by permanently reducing the amount of energy (and therefore energy bill costs) needed to achieve healthy temperatures during winter in these homes.

Dr Chard continued, “We need a serious national conversation on how we better target support to those most in need. Blanket subsidies should not be needed. A national trial of WHP would deliver tangible results. This is not theoretical, the evidence on WHP speaks for itself. 93% of people place greater importance on being warm than they previously did, whilst 79% said that it had a positive effect on their physical health.

Winter 2024/25 is looming and with it, hundreds more EWDs await. This is avoidable if we take a proactive approach to health, wellbeing, and retrofit. A national trial of WHP would require collaborative working from Ofgem, healthcare providers, government, and energy suppliers, on a scale not yet seen, but it is hard to argue with the benefits (reduced pressure on the NHS, fewer EWDs, and warmer homes for people).

“There is no reason for us to delay”, said Dr Chard. “In the short term, we could better target the £4 billion in the 2022-2026 Energy Company Obligation (ECO), to those most in need. We are already trialling this approach and delivering improved energy efficiency and low carbon heating measures.”

“We cannot keep retreading the same paths year after year. Too many people die needlessly because they live in a cold home. It does not have to be this way. WHP offers an opportunity to reshape health and wellbeing on a national scale. Let’s take the lessons of the last four years and provide targeted support that is proven to work to those in need.”

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