Service responses to hot weather

Tower Hamlets’ Rough Sleeping Team worked closely with our commissioned services and wider statutory partners to deliver H-SWEP services in 2023. Planning sessions were held with relevant partners to build a local procedure and process, which included us alerting partners once the heat thresholds were met. Provision during H-SWEP included:

- Targeted outreach shifts during ‘Yellow’ and higher alert levels by the St Mungos street outreach team to support the most vulnerable clients who were most at risk of extreme temperatures

- A specialist cooling station (during the ‘Amber’ activation) was provided within our local day centre (Providence Row Charity), which was open into the evening, and on weekends. This meant a safe space with dedicated, holistic support was available to people sleeping rough. The borough’s libraries were also available as ‘cool spaces’ for people to access.

- Community Safety Teams helped deliver water and other supplies, and supported the outreach teams through driving to check at risk people during higher alert levels. Public Health teams also supported with plans to provide hats and water bottles to people sleeping rough.

During Summer 2024, we are hoping to reprise these interventions, alongside developing an information card for people sleeping rough, containing details of what support is available in the borough, and basic safety advice.

Our H-SWEP planning normally starts a few months before the start of summer to ensure that everything is in place if there is hot weather earlier in the year. The main aspects of Camden’s response to H-SWEP can be split into five areas:

1. Modified outreach

During Yellow, Amber, and Red alerts, the outreach team modify their shifts to focus on welfare checking. They use cars and vans to deliver water, sports drinks, sunscreen, cool clothing, hats, and ice lollies to people sleeping rough. Maps of cool spaces and water access points are also provided, alongside advice on how to keep cool in the heat.

2. Cool spaces

We put together a map of three cool spaces spread across Camden, specifically for people who sleeping rough to access. Each space has supplies such as water, sunscreen, cool clothing, hats, wet wipes and ice lollies. The cool spaces within the libraries also have an ‘acceleration process’ and direct contact with the coordinator/outreach team if there is anyone of particular concern who attends.

3. Training

Camden’s ‘Routes of The Street’ team (RTS) have received training about recognising heat-related illnesses and actions that should be taken, including when to contact emergency services. The training has been delivered by the Nurse who is based within the outreach team.

4. Accommodation

For those most vulnerable to heat-related illnesses, accommodation is offered during H-SWEP activations. This is mainly within hotels and accommodation where air-conditioning units are provided. RTS have a ‘heat-vulnerable’ list which has been put together by the Nurse based in the outreach team and is constantly being updated.

5. Conversations with wider services

This year, Camden has a ‘Climate Adaptation and Resilience Lead’ who has started working with the Housing team to start having conversations around long-term planning across the wider Camden Housing Network. We have also been working with Camden Pathways Hostel System to highlight the need for contingency planning for those vulnerable to heat-related illnesses as a large amount of our buildings are older and have not been build with hot weather in mind.

In preparation for H-SWEP in 2023, Islington worked with our libraries that provide cool spaces in the summer months. We put together a timetable so people were aware of the times they could access them during the very hot days of the summer. We also worked with our day centres, and agreed that one of them would be open over the weekend whenever H-SWEP was called, to provide respite for people who were sleeping rough.

When H-SWEP was called last summer, we alerted our partner agencies, including our commissioned outreach team, the internal outreach team, supported accommodation providers, and the day centres within the borough. We organised day shifts, in addition to our regular outreach shifts, with workers handing out sun cream and water to people who were sleeping rough, and encouraged them to use the ‘cool spaces’ within the borough. All our partners were aware that they were to contact the rough sleepers’ leads in Islington if they had concerns for an individual as we could offer emergency accommodation to those who were particularly vulnerable in the hot weather.

Last year, the team were particularly concerned about a client who had physical health needs but had been refusing offers of accommodation for a year. The outreach team targeted the client during their shifts, conducted a welfare check, offered water and sun cream, and kept having conversations about accommodation options. The client ended up presenting at hospital, and they were admitted due to various health issues at the time. On discharge, the client was offered accommodation which they accepted, and they have remained in this accommodation since that day.