HUNDREDS of health workers have written a warning to the government that the most vulnerable are facing a fuel poverty “public health emergency,” with NHS services bearing the consequences.

They called on Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Environment Secretary Ed Miliband to take action on the growing fuel poverty crisis and cold, poor-quality homes ahead of next week’s Autumn Budget.

Among the 440 signatories were doctors who told of their heartbreak watching patients fall ill from living in cold, damp and mouldy homes as they hit out against cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance.