The recent refusal by a British mental health care group to treat asylum seekers has raised questions about the National Health Service's (NHS) ability to provide services for thousands of would-be refugees.
Physicians working with asylum seekers in north London received a letter from the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust stating that it would no longer accept referrals for patients whose status in the country “is still uncertain.” NHS guidelines state that asylum seekers have the same rights to medical care as British nationals. (In Canada, refugee claimants receive “essential coverage” under the Interim Federal Health Program until they are eligible for coverage through provincial medicare plans.)
Last year the British Medical Association (BMA) said many health professionals are uncertain about their obligations to asylum seekers. It noted that they often have complex health problems and urged that additional payments be made to doctors offering them expanded services.
“In some cases, hundreds of asylum seekers have been moved into a surgery's catchment area without prior notification,” the BMA said. Physicians' offices that are already oversubscribed do not have to accept new patients, but the BMA warns that this could lead to other problems, such as inappropriate use of emergency services.
The Home Office says 19 500 people applied for asylum in Britain during the first 3 months of this year, a 4% increase over 2001. The country received 88 300 asylum applications last year, more than double the number in Canada and more than in any other European country except Germany. It has since joined the European trend of tightening its rules concerning refugee entry.
In a confidential letter to physicians seeking referrals for asylum seekers, the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey trust advised GPs to seek help from private charities. A spokesperson told The Guardian that the trust was treating many asylum seekers but such patients “do not have English as their first language, they are highly transient and have long-term needs.” Several British charities, such as the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, provide help to political refugees but view their work as a supplement to NHS services, not as a replacement for them. — Mary Helen Spooner, West Sussex, UK
Figure. Asylum seekers caught trying to enter the UK via the Channel Tunnel Photo by: Canapress