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

Extreme weather breaks MRI scanners and cooling units, as workload rises for sleep-deprived staff on sweltering wards

Doctors have sounded the alarm over the disastrous impact of extreme heat 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.