Is this an unsafe workplace accident?

Hi all, posting on someone else’s behalf who doesn’t use social media. Based and employed in England.

Woman, aged mid- late 60’s, has worked in a privately owned care home as a kitchen assistant for 6 months.

During the awful heatwave we had end of May, the kitchens Aircon remained broken throughout. The extractor fans were also broken. So the kitchen was extremely hot. The company has a history of letting things remain broken for weeks, such as a broken dishwasher which remained broken for weeks upon weeks.

About 5:30pm one evening, the woman overheated and passed out. She fell to the floor where she sustained a fractured hip that has left her with at least 6 weeks off of work. She is now on statutory sick pay which is just not enough to pay the bills.

During a hospital visit the next day, one of the managers phoned to do a health and safety assessment, where they agreed that the kitchen was unsafe. From colleagues, we know that the aircon remained unfixed for a further few days until the heat settled down outside. Other people remained working in that heat.

The issue here is that the woman 3 years ago had a heart attack which meant she is on medication that makes her sensitive to heat and heat exhaustion. The care home is aware of her heart and meds history.

Doctors at the hospital have since reduced this medication to match better with her weight.

Is there a legal avenue to get any compensation here? Is it worth pursuing? Or because of the medication, will they say it was her fault?