Newspaper readers have been shocked this week to read of the tragic death of Barbara Bolton earlier this month.
The 87-year-old disclosed to her doctor she had not been able to afford heating at her home before being admitted to Fairfield Hospital on December 11 last year with hypothermia and a chest infection.
Her health deteriorated and she died in hospital on January 5. An inquest into her death has been opened at Rochdale Coroner's Court and a full inquest hearing exploring the circumstances that led to Ms Bolton's death will take place later this year.
Commenting on the circumstances we know so far about Ms Bolton’s last days, Dr Carole Easton OBE, Chief Executive at the Centre for Ageing Better, said:
“This is a terrible tragedy for Ms Bolton and her family but unfortunately it will not be the only one of its kind to occur in England over this winter.
“We have some of the worst and least efficient homes in Western Europe and more than 700,000 people still live in homes without central heating.
“Cold homes kill, around 10,000 people die in cold homes in this country every year. Many tens of thousands more will suffer a deterioration in their physical and mental health this winter.
“This human suffering also comes with a financial cost of more than £1 billion a year to an already under-strain and over-stretched NHS.
“We as a country were simply not prepared for the huge spike in the cost of energy.
“The government’s short-term fix of financial support has been extensive but it cannot match the scale of the issue and still left millions to ration energy, choose between heating and eating and put their own health at risk because the comfort of a warm home was simply beyond their financial means.
“We have known for years that many homes were inadequate but repeatedly failed to deliver the improvements necessary or prioritise the issue sufficiently.
“To avoid the needless deaths of older people in cold weather, we really need to see an urgent and ambitious response that delivers long-term change.
“We need a national programme to make homes warmer, safer and more energy efficient.
“And we need to make it easier for people to make improvements to their homes.
“This is why we at Ageing Better are calling for one-stop shops in communities to provide people with local advice, access to finance and practical support. This approach will stop people falling into a fuel poverty crisis where they are no longer able to heat their homes.”
