Sunderland-based Gentoo Group is monitoring the number of hospital admissions the South of Tyne primary care trust receives that are linked to a cold home, such as arthritis and respiratory problems. Plans to ask local GPs to prescribe new boilers in a bid to tackle health problems associated with fuel poverty among its tenants.
The landlord hopes to present its findings on the link between under-heated homes and poor health to the trust when the study ends in three years’ time. It then plans to ask the NHS to fund energy-efficiency measures for tenants in order to keep the number of hospital admissions down.