Flashback:
– UK: Winter fuel payment cuts to hit millions of pensioners, despite pre-election promises
– UK: Pensioners are burning books to keep warm
– Frozen to death as fuel bills soar: Hypothermia cases among the elderly double in five years (Daily Mail, Feb. 13, 2012):
- 1,876 patients treated for hypothermia in 2010/11
- Hypothermia death toll within 30 days up from 135 to 260
- Coincides with a surge in energy prices
- Industry analyst estimates 8 out of 10 households ration energy use
- Age UK says a quarter of all pensioners live in fuel poverty
The number of pensioners dying from hypothermia has nearly doubled in five years, a period when a succession of cold winters has been coupled with drastic rises in energy bills.
The official figures emerged after several days of Arctic conditions which drove temperatures across the whole country as low as minus 10C (14F).
They showed that 1,876 patients were treated in hospital for hypothermia in 2010/11, up from 950 in 2006/07.
The number of sufferers who died within 30 days of admission shot up from 135 to 260.