Editor—I agree with Pollard and Savulescu that failed asylum seekers should not be denied access to free NHS health care.1
Firstly, as Williams argues in the previous issue,2 evidence shows that failed asylum seekers are desperate and needy from a healthcare point of view. The professional and moral duty of doctors is to assist anyone in such need, regardless of his or her ability to pay.
Secondly, in putting forward the proposals we will not “continue to meet our international obligations.”3 Article 12 of the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ratified by the United Kingdom in 1976) guarantees the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
Thirdly, by denying failed asylum seekers access to free health care we will not push them away. There is evidence that most of them remain in the United Kingdom for reasons other than having access to welfare benefits.4
Fourthly, the measure will have negative public health and economic consequences, as exposed by Pollard and Savulescu.
Figure 1.
Credit: JAMES FRASER/REX
Finally, NHS staff are not immigration officers.
The government should issue an urgent clarification statement on all these issues before the proposals are allowed to go any further.
Competing interests: None declared.
References
- 1.Pollard AJ, Savulescu J. Eligibility of overseas visitors and people of uncertain residential status for NHS treatment. BMJ 2004;329: 346-9. (7 August.) [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Williams P. Why failed asylum seekers must not be denied access to the NHS. BMJ 2004;329: 298. (31 July.) [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Department of Health. Proposals to exclude overseas visitors from eligibility to free NHS primary medical services. A consultation. London: DoH, 2004.
- 4.Robinson V, Segrott J. Understanding the decision-making of asylum seekers. (Home Office Research Study 243.) London: Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate, 2002.