Over 2,000 health centres in areas breaching air pollution guidelines

A new report has found that thousands of patients attending more than 2,000 hospitals and GP practices across the UK are breathing air that breaches guidelines.

Toxic air at the doors of the NHS, published by the British Lung Foundation, reports that a third of GP surgeries and a quarter of hospitals are located in areas with levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) above the World Health Organisation’s limit. This includes major teaching hospitals, children’s hospitals, clinics and GP surgeries.

Among the 2,220 GP practices and 248 hospitals in breach of the guidelines, two of the biggest children’s hospitals in the country, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Birmingham’s Children Hospital, are highlighted in the report as being located in areas with unsafe levels of pollution.

Furthermore, many cities including Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Leicester, London, Nottingham, Hull, Chelmsford and Southampton have at least one large NHS trust that is located in an area with unsafe levels of pollution.

Pollutants, predominantly caused by excessive traffic, are linked to a range of lifelong health problems including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, strokes and lung cancer. Air pollution is a particular threat to children and can lead to irreversible damage to their growing lungs and a range of lifelong health conditions.

Alison Cook, director of policy at the British Lung Foundation, said: “People with heart and lung problems, the elderly and children are most at risk from air pollution. It can’t be right that hospital staff and GPs must care for people in environments that could worsen their symptoms and could be putting them at risk of a whole range of health problems further down the line.”