A new report has been published by the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) on the provision of mental health services to asylum seekers and refugees in London, the most ‘vulnerable and socially excluded people in our society’. The research for the report, Unheard Voices- listening to the views of asylum seekers
Theme: Sport
Anger at overseas doctors’ permit requirement
New regulations affecting International Medical Graduates (IMGs) have been criticised by leading members of the medical profession and immigration practitioners. The NHS has developed and utilised the skills of IMGs, essentially Black doctors from Third World countries, since its inception in 1948. The arrangement between IMGs and the health service has traditionally been seen as
Matter of ‘life and death’ in Roma deportation case
A 23-year-old disabled asylum seeker is in hospital after the threat of deportation led her to self-harm. Enkeleda Berisha, known as ‘Eda’, suffers with spina bifida (SB), a spinal disease which can result in varying degrees of paralysis of the lower limbs. In addition to the physical and mobility difficulties associated with this illness, most
Free healthcare clinics for vulnerable groups in London
A free, confidential drop-in health clinic aimed at vulnerable migrants, women and homeless people has opened in London. Project:London consists of two weekly clinics in east London where patients do not need to bring any proof of identity or status to receive treatment. Each clinic is staffed by a doctor and nurse who can provide
Inquest indicts three agencies in restraint death of Black schizophrenic
A two-week inquest at the end of January recorded a detailed narrative verdict critical of the care that 28-year-old Andrew Jordan, a Guyanese man who had a history of schizophrenia, received from police, mental health officials and ambulance service staff in south-east London. Andrew’s mental health problems had begun in 1999 when he returned to
Better care for asylum seekers with HIV
The National AIDS Trust (NAT) has welcomed a decision by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) to amend its policy on the dispersal of asylum seekers with healthcare needs. In a recent report, NAT highlights the problem that dispersal brings in terms of healthcare needs of asylum seekers with HIV and welcome the December 2005
World stage involved in anti-deportation drama
A campaign to save a mother and her two children from deportation has broadened its appeal by seeking support on an international scale and enlisting the help of Coronation Street actress Julie Hesmondhalgh. Samina Altaf and her two children, Aqsa, 12 and Sumama, 6, fled their native Pakistan following incidences of domestic violence and sought
Doctors question their role in human rights violation of asylum seekers
Doctors met recently to discuss the right to health of detained asylum seekers and their invidious role as gatekeepers to health care. The conference held on 25 June 2005 on the right to health of detained asylum seekers and migrants, organised by Doctors for Human Rights, focused primarily on a report produced by Médecins Sans
No duty to save immigrant lives, rules House of Lords
On Thursday 5 May, as voters went to the polls in a general election dominated by immigration and asylum, the House of Lords issued a judgment which effectively condemns hundreds of immigrants to a premature and painful death, according to human rights lawyers. Five Law Lords, sitting as the highest appeal court in the land,
Asylum seekers needlessly made destitute
The Refugee Survival Trust (RST)’s report What’s going on? examines the causes of destitution among asylum seekers, the circumstances which surround destitution and concludes that the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) is failing those seeking protection in the UK. ‘What’s going on?’ is a study into the destitution and poverty faced by asylum seekers in