To be worried about work with the temperature tomorrow

We're always so dramatic about a little heat in this country.

This is a common problem throughout hospitals. It’ll be much nicer in your warm office than it will be on most of the wards. (I wear compression stockings when it’s particularly toasty at work to help stop the fainting).

We have a new apprentice, started last week. He's still 16. The smell of Lynx Africa nearly floored me on Monday morning. 😁

Take a thin scarf with you. Dip in water at work and pop it in bag in the fridge or better yet a freezer. You can use it to cool your neck/hands/face. Keep cooling it when not in use.

Lots of cool drinks. Ice lolly for lunch! Cool little treats to get you through.

According to the gov uk website

There is no maximum temperature for workplaces.
However, all workers are entitled to an environment where risks to their health and safety are properly controlled. Heat is classed as a hazard and comes with legal obligations like any other hazard.

Temperature in the workplace: What the law says - HSE

I do feel sorry for you, some people really are affected badly with heat, make sure you drink plenty of water, electrolytes if your BP is low and wicking clothing if possible. My husband works with industrial ovens in this heat and comes home half melted, he has had to send 2 guys home on days like this because they get ill.

It will be a crap day - kids are allowed in PE kits which means that they thinks it’s anything goes. So I will be hot, bothered, surrounded by scents of BO, sweat, Lynx Africa and Victoria’s Secret. And every kid (think I see about 140 tomorrow) will
moan about the heat!!

Can you adjust clothing/switch into scrubs - nice and cool (but shows sweat badly)
Those cooling pads that you get for pets can be nice to sit on (I have one in my pillow case) - don't last long though.
Sounds mad but wet your socks - the evaporation can be nice if your feet get hot and no-one can see it.
When you handwash at the end rinse in cold water for a minute.

Wet paper towels wiped over your neck your forehead, your back - the evaporation cooling effect is short lived but great.
Cold drinks, cold food, cold water - everything you can do.

The wards are often boiling hot - one year they couldn't turn the heating off (don't know why) so had air conditioning units going at the same time as radiators - insane.

I'm taking in a nosepeg- the smell of 32 year 9s after they've done PE will be something to behold!

OP, lots of us are in the same boat. I'm fitting patients for wheelchair accessible cars tomorrow. At least part of the time, I'll be outside.

I'm just planning my clothes - a loose linen skirt and a thin cotton shirt. Light cotton undies, soft leather ballet flats. No synthetic fibres.

Get in early, close the blinds and open all the windows. Let the breeze in but keep the sun out.

Take a 'hot' water bottle with you but fill it with cold water. Place that against your back as you sit. Use a fan if you have one.

Avoid heavy carbs, fizzy drinks and sugar, eat fruit & salads for lunch. Drink plenty of cold water, put a spare full water bottle in the fridge and swap them over so one is cooling while you drink the other.

And move slowly. You'll be fine. So will I.

They do on MN.

It's only a few weeks since people were agonising about cancelling expensive holidays because it was going to be raining/temps were too low. This week there have been numerous people wanting to cancel their holidays because it's going to be too hot.

Unfortunately the UK hasn't adapted yet to the fact that summers are getting hotter.

For a rare day as PP says stay hydrated, take your own fan, cooler clothes, etc.

If this is an ongoing issue ask your office manager to investigate in under H&S workplace regulation. There is no statutory maximum(!) but a number of places will have guidelines and monitoring. As you are with the NHS I would hope(!) there are guidelines around temperatures in areas that patients use.

I used to work in a kid's hospital. I remember during one heatwave, we had staff pass out from heat stroke. Some were doctors. Any fans in the building were for patient use only. No one could bring their own one in as it had to be PAT tested first... and that can take weeks.

My DP is saying he should not have to work tomorrow. He WFH 😂

How can you work from home if seeing patients? I assume your patients will be braving the heat

You have my sympathy. I find it almost impossible to function when it’s above 23 degrees, especially when it’s humid. I’ve always run hot but now I’m 50 and perimenopausal it’s a nightmare. Keeping hydrated really helps but I struggle to concentrate in the heat and I absolutely dread it.

If you are prone to faintness check your blood pressure, eat a bit more salt to counteract the sweating and slow down (if you’re prone to rushing about)

I’m in a similar situation although we also go out and about.
However I absolutely love the heat and accept that a few hours in the office will be a bit uncomfortable.
I think if you are worrying about it now you need to try and rationalise it.
Plan to find somewhere shady for your break (take your unpaid break even if you don’t normally)
freeze some half bottles of water/squash tonight and top up with cold water in the morning. Home made slush.
Wear something cool I wear a linen dress or trousers.
run cool water over wrists when you go to the loo.

How would you see patients if you wfh?

Do you have children? Should all the people caring for them be able to stay at home too if they felt a bit iffy from the heat at some point last week?

There should be a maximum temperature for working in. Every June we have a heatwave and I feel the sweat running down my legs as I teach and hope the kids aren't too aware of how drenched I am.

You can’t work from home if your job involves seeing patients, obviously. Take a fan in.

Hydrate well, take a fan. Take a facecloth , wet it and leave in the fridge and pop it round your neck in the hottest part of the day.

If you have flexibility in terms of when you take your lunch break, use that

Your manager knows the forecast. If you were able to wfh they would have already put the arrangements in place. For many people, their homes will be just as warm if not warmer than their workplaces.