HEALTH workers, renters and campaigners gathered outside the Department of Health and Social Care today, demanding urgent government funding for home insulation ahead of the June spending review.

Organised by health charity Medact, the protest featured NHS staff standing behind a model “sick home” to highlight the devastating health impacts of cold and damp housing. 

Campaigners warned that poor housing conditions are fuelling a public health crisis and overburdening the NHS.

An open letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting — endorsed by several royal colleges and previously reported in the Morning Star — was delivered at the protest, urging the government to fulfil its election pledge to reduce energy bills and allocate at least £13.2 billion to a nationwide Warm Homes Plan.

Campaigners are calling for a fully funded retrofit programme, investment in green jobs and skill and protections for renters to prevent post-upgrade rent hikes.

The demonstration came amid reports that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering cuts to home insulation funding.

A Medact spokesperson said: “Our homes should be a place of safety and health — not a source of illness. 

“We need a nationwide retrofit scheme that ensures our homes are kept warm in winter and cool in summer. 

“The state of our housing stock is not only harming people, it is pushing the NHS further into breaking point. 

“Insulating homes is one of the smartest investments we can make — for health, for the economy, and for the planet.”

A&E doctor Jasmin Abbott described seeing the impact of poor housing every week, saying: “Elderly patients come into A&E frail, hypothermic, unable to get up from the floor in freezing homes. 

“Children and adults arrive with chronic breathing issues worsened by mouldy conditions.

“Even when housing isn’t the obvious cause, their stories reveal the reality: people skipping meals or staying overnight at work because they can’t afford heat or transport. 

“This is a public health emergency hiding in plain sight.”

Acorn chairwoman Chelsea Philips said: “Tenants need the government to invest in upgrading homes, but also need protections to make sure that landlords don’t hike rents in order to pay for improvements. 

“No-one should have to choose between a healthy home and an affordable one — everyone deserves both.

“We will keep fighting for policies that prioritise tenants’ health over landlords’ wealth.”