Southwark Council is urging the borough’s general practices (GPs) to become ‘safe surgeries’ that allow migrants to register as patients.
NHS guidelines already say patients don’t need documentation to register with surgeries but, according to a 2011 Bureau of Investigative Journalism report, practices often flout this rule.
Southwark Council has written to every GP in the borough asking them to pledge to be a "safe surgery" for migrants.
This means ensuring that immigration status or language are not barriers to healthcare.
So far, 37 of 40 have signed up. #PatientsNotPassports pic.twitter.com/XU0Hf7TaCn
— James McAsh (@mcash) October 10, 2022
Council Leader Kieron Williams said: “Everyone living in the UK has the right to access a GP, without fear or worries, regardless of their immigration status. Sadly migrants often struggle to access the vital healthcare they are entitled to.
“The letter we wrote to all GP practices in Southwark asks them to help ensure everyone in our community can register and consult with a GP, without question or unnecessary immigration checks.
“I’m delighted that so many GP surgeries in Southwark responded so quickly to state that their doors are open to all.”
As of Monday, 37 GPs in Southwark had affirmed their commitment not to conduct ID checks according to Southwark councillor James McAsh.
Practices that become ‘safe surgeries’ pledge not to ask patients for ID or proof of immigration status, and get help training their staff on migrant healthcare entitlement.
In a letter to every single GP surgery, Council Leader Kieron Williams said health inequalities are “especially stark” for many migrant communities.
Cllr Williams wrote: “The pandemic has reminded us all how deep the health inequalities are in our borough, how unfair they are and how important it is that we work together to address them. These inequalities are especially stark for many migrant communities.”
As well as GP registration, most primary care services, including A&E, sexual health, Covid-19, family planning services, and much more, are available to people regardless of immigration status.
However, an amendment passed in 2017 increased the range of services chargeable to people without ‘regularised’ immigration status to include community-based secondary care.
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The government has also been criticised for sharing patient data with the Home Office, raising fears that patients will avoid the NHS for fear of deportation.
A letter from MPs to Health Secretary Matt Hancock in 2020 cited the case of a Filipino man who died while self-isolating with Covid-19 symptoms.
He did not seek treatment because he feared “that he would be charged thousands of pounds for his treatment, or that he would face immigration enforcement if he tried to access care”, the letter said.
As well as ensuring nobody is asked for documentation, participating surgeries get guides on NHS entitlement and translated patient-facing posters.
They also get access to networking events, training for clinical and non-clinical staff on migrant entitlement and quarterly newsletters.
Safe Surgeries is an initiative run by Doctors of the World, an international humanitarian organisation providing medical care to the world’s most vulnerable people.