Health · 27 June 2026
Heatwave breaks hospital IT, cancels appointments
Bikeboy via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-2.0)
The extreme heat is causing major problems for English hospitals, leading to a surge in patients and equipment failures. At least three hospitals, including Queen Alexandra in Portsmouth, declared critical incidents on Wednesday and Thursday as IT systems and cooling units struggled. This meant some MRI scanners and radiotherapy machines stopped working, with one geriatric ward reaching 35C.
Reported by Guardian · How we write briefs