Warm and healthy homes

Over 22,000 households in County Durham are in Fuel Poverty, these households struggle to afford to heat their homes adequately. The recent Energy Price Cap increase at the beginning of April pushed energy bills up by over £700, meaning the average dual fuel energy bill jumped from £1,200 to over £1,900 a year. Patients who can’t afford to heat their home sufficiently could have serious impacts on their health and wellbeing.

However, help is at hand from Warm and Healthy Homes (WHH) team, run by Durham City Council. Over the past 12 months this team has worked alongside Countywide GP Surgeries to assist patients to have warmer homes and lower energy bills.

So far nine GP surgeries have written to over 11,300 patients with COPD, Asthma on Long Covid to promote WHH assistance. This includes grants for new gas boilers, wall and loft insulation and air source heat pumps, plus independent advice on fuel debts and switching energy supplier.

In a recent example of how effective the WHH service can be, is a man with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) who was left without heating after his boiler broke. Unable to afford the repair costs, he had been living without heating for months.

Luckily, the man mentioned it to his GP, who was concerned that the lack of heating would exacerbate his condition. The GP immediately raised this with Durham County Council and the Social Prescribing Link Workers who stepped in to help. As the man lived in an off-gas area, the council was able to provide a grant to fully fund an air source heat pump, plus new radiators and a new distribution board. This not only allowed him to stay at home, but the more energy-efficient heating system reduced his energy bills and eased his worries about the cost of heating his home.

To date 1,364 patients have received a new gas boiler and insulation measures equating to over £2.3m of grants distributed to low-income households. 640 patients have also received a free home visit to advise them how to switch energy tariffs saving over £66,000 off their energy bills.