Estates and facilities teams in hospitals are being urged to reassess the resilience of their cooling and pumping infrastructure.
Jason Cox, sales director at Wilo UK, has warned that, as hospitals continue to battle rising internal temperatures, increased demand on chilled water systems put greater strain on pumps that support air handling units and critical cooling across wards, theatres, and diagnostic equipment.
The comments follow reports that hospitals have declared critical incidents during the heatwave as equipment such as cooling units started failing in record-breaking temperatures, with some Trusts reporting internal temperatures above safe clinical thresholds. With climate patterns shifting, Jason says hospitals must adopt condition based monitoring (CBM) to stay ahead of failures.
Jason said: “We have truly entered into unchartered territories with climate change, and we must react fast. Clinical environments rely on stable cooling to protect patients, staff, and equipment. When temperatures surge, pumps and cooling assets work significantly harder, increasing the risk of early breakdowns, unplanned outages, and unsafe internal conditions. We’re seeing more emergency failures that could have been prevented with better monitoring.
“Condition based monitoring gives estates teams real time visibility of pump performance, energy efficiency, and early signs of wear. Hospitals can’t afford reactive maintenance – not when cooling protects vulnerable patients and keeps theatres operational. A predictive approach is now essential for resilience, safety, and cost control.”
