Impact of climate change on hospital admissions: a case study of the Royal Berkshire Hospital in the UK

Israelsson, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6181-1702, Charlton-Perez, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8179-6220 and Sun, T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2486-6146 (2022) Impact of climate change on hospital admissions: a case study of the Royal Berkshire Hospital in the UK. Meteorological Applications, 29 (4). ISSN 1469-8080 doi: 10.1002/met.2084

Abstract/Summary

Abstract: Global warming is projected to have major implications on global health. It is however not yet clear how this will translate to impacts on the healthcare system. By linking changes in temperature with changes in required bed days at a hospital level, through the use of a simple bed model, we quantify the projected impacts UK hospitals will need to adapt to. We show that there is already a local peak of bed days required in the main summer months due to hot temperatures. The results further show that there will be a significant increase during the main summer in both the mean and maximum number of beds needed, but a non‐significant decrease during the peak winter months. These changes lead to a more constant need of care of the year and shift the seasonal cycle of lowest hospital needs.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/106502
Identification Number/DOI	10.1002/met.2084
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Health Innovation Partnership (HIP)
Uncontrolled Keywords	RESEARCH ARTICLE, RESEARCH ARTICLES, admissions, health systems, heat morbidity, impact
Publisher	John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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