Supporting patients from migrant communities
Dr Hannah Theodorou, Londonwide LMCs Medical Director for North West London and Board Member of Doctors of the World writes about GPs’ obligations and best practice when registering and caring for migrant patients.
Supporting patients from migrant communities can be incredibly rewarding but also comes with challenges, especially as the system struggles to cope with increasing patient demand and the pressures from Covid-19. Everyone has a right to access primary care regardless of immigration status or the ability to provide proof of identification or address, and practices are at risk of breach notices if they fail to register patients. There are often a number of reasons why people may not be able or willing to provide this documentation, often because the paperwork has been lost in transit or confiscated in the case of individuals have been trafficked, or there are fears about being reported to the Home Office.
We often get queries regarding patient registration and access for migrant patients so we’ve pulled together some resources to support practices to help understand both the regulations and how to best support these patients.
The BMA have outlined the regulations in relation to entitlement to care for non-UK residents on their website. This emphasises that everyone is entitled to free primary care, but the rules around access to secondary care vary according to immigration status. Refugees and asylum seekers that have an active application or appeal are entitled to full NHS care. This does not apply to overseas visitors or those who have a refused application. Further details regarding overseas visitors is also available on their website. This can potentially place practices in the position where they are caring for patients who have limited access to secondary care resources. If this is proving to be a challenge, please reach out to your LMC for support and further guidance.
The Safe Surgeries toolkit created by Doctors of the World, endorsed by the BMA and RCGP, has been designed to outline some simple steps regarding how practices can support patients with registering at their practice in an environment that feels safe and supportive. This includes practice and patient-facing resources with posters in multiple languages. There is also additional information specific to caring for migrant patients during the Covid-19 pandemic, including enabling access to the Covid-19 vaccine and translated resources for self-care for Covid infection and when to seek help. There is also a specific toolkit for social prescribing link workers.
The RCGP module on Health Inequalities may also be of wider interest to clinicians.
Last updated : 25 Nov 2021New CQC guidance section for practices (20 Aug 2019)
In the past 12 months CQC have visited nearly 400 practices in London and found that: 3 were considered outstanding, 300 were considered ‘good’, 57 required improvement, and 23...Bowel screening update – August 2019 (20 Aug 2019)
NHS England have provided an information sheet to explain the introduction of the faecal immunochemical test (FIT). This replaced the guaiac faecal occult blood test (gFOBt) at the start of...Tackling social isolation and loneliness to improve health (20 Aug 2019)
Colin Brown, UK Director for Independent Living & Crisis Response at British Red Cross looks at how their expertise will be of use to social prescribing link workers, as they...Primary care buddying system (20 Aug 2019)
The NHS London Leadership Academy is working with primary care providers to support development in the sector, and to facilitate wider working across the health and social care system. They...Vaccination update August 2019 (20 Aug 2019)
Hepatitis B in at risk babies Babies born to mothers infected with hepatitis B require a course of hep B vaccination. The first dose is given within 24 hours in...Londonwide LMCs’ support for Primary Care Network Clinical Directors (20 Aug 2019)
The introduction of the PCN DES means significant changes in the way practices deliver some existing services, and the rolling out of a new range of services. Londonwide LMCs is...Safeguarding payments and collaborative arrangements (15 Aug 2019)
On 11 July 2019 Dr David Geddes, NHSE/I Director of Primary Care Commissioning, wrote to CCGs and STPs advising that payment for safeguarding activity is not covered by core NHS...Tips of the month August 2019 (15 Aug 2019)
We provide weekly tips based on common queries which come through to us from London GPs and practice teams. These are shared via social media and collated for...Congratulations to Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer on becoming CEO of Cambridgeshire LMCs (15 Aug 2019)
At the start of August Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer took over from Dr Guy Watkins as Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire LMC. Katie trained as a GP in London and was previously a medical...CNSGP confirmed to cover safeguarding reports (13 Aug 2019)
NHS England and NHS Resolution have confirmed that the Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice (CNSGP) does cover GPs for claims relating to reports produced in response to safeguarding requests, for...Guidance
We provide expert guidance for practices in our guidance section, as well as an archive of other materials you may find useful.
GP Support
Contact our GP Support team if you need help or advice.
The team provide professional and pastoral support to GPs and practice teams on a broad range of issues.