NURSES are suffering from seizures and collapsing while caring for patients at 36°C, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has warned, as the TUC issued a fresh calls for maximum workplace temperature laws.

RCN members reported being left “dripping with sweat from head to toe” at work as Britain is on course for its hottest summer on record.

“When nursing staff are collapsing, feeling dizzy, sick or even being admitted to the very hospitals they work in because their workplaces cannot handle the heat, it shows just how badly they are being failed,” said RCN chief executive and general secretary Professor Nicola Ranger.

A nurse working in a community health centre in England told the union: “It gets to the point you dread going to work, especially when wearing PPE [personal protective equipment] and providing patient care. We drip with sweat from head to toe.”

Nurses are reportedly “increasingly concerned” over the impact on elderly patients.

Prof Ranger said the testimonies should be a “wake-up call” as amber heat health alerts were issued across the country during Britain’s fifth heatwave of the year.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham this week rejected calls to introduce a maximum working temperatures by the Heat Strike coalition of unions and climate activists.

TUC general secretary  Paul Nowak  said:    “Employers need to be taking action to keep staff cool and safe.

“As the climate crisis makes heatwaves more common, the UK needs to adapt. 

“That means new laws on maximum working temperatures, improvements to workplaces to keep them cool, and ambitious climate action to tackle the problem at its root.”