Energy charity worries they won't be able to expand NHS bill paying pilot
Instrumental Severn Wye Energy ran the last pilot, paying 28 patient's energy bills to support their cold sensitive conditions
Last updated 22nd Nov 2022
Severn Wye Energy told Greatest Hits Radio Gloucestershire that they're still looking for "a little bit of funding" to expand the 'Warmth on Prescription' scheme to 150 patients in the county.
The NHS worked closely with the charity to roll out a pilot which saw them pay for 28 patient's energy bills between December 2021 and March 2022.
The scheme saw GPs prescribe heating to patients suffering with cold sensitive conditions.
Severn Wye Energy did say that this was a huge success, costing on average £657 per person. The charity says this would save the NHS money and relieve pressure off GPs and A&E, due to less referrals caused by cold homes.
Due to the success of the scheme in Gloucestershire, the NHS plan to expand the pilot to 150 households in the county, plus about 1,000 in Aberdeen and Teesside.
"We haven't actually got the funds to pay the bills"
However, when asked about the expansion, Project Manager Jacqui Harris said the "issue we've got at the moment is the funds that we had available to pay for these clients' energy, we are still trying to source for the expansion.
"So we've got the project there, it's ready to run, but we haven't actually got the funds to pay the bills.
"That's something we are still working on."
Predominately, Severn Wye Energy focuses on advising struggling bill payers on how to make ends meet and not get in debt. They say even without funding they will continue to advise patients on how to heat their homes, to help their conditions