Vulnerable migrants in the UK face a major threat to their well-being because they cannot easily access healthcare.
Vulnerable migrants unable to access healthcare are facing a wellbeing threat
Migrants at risk of vulnerability, living in the UK may have little or no access to healthcare – creating a major threat to their well-being, a new report reveals.
Experts from the University of Birmingham analysed the well-being of migrants at risk of vulnerability, before and during the pandemic, mainly living in London who engaged with Doctors of the World UK (DOTW UK), in research funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
The report studies individuals who are at significant risk of harm while lacking the ability or means to protect themselves. Degrees of vulnerability for an individual vary in different contexts and at different points in time, but asylum seekers and undocumented migrants are considered at particular risk of vulnerability.
It is vital that migrants at risk of vulnerability have access to healthcare and high levels of wellbeing. Our analysis shows just how difficult it can be, even for trained volunteers to get individuals to register with a GP. DOTW UK’s volunteers have had to assist thousands of migrants to access healthcare over many years."
The researchers found that the wellbeing of migrants at risk of vulnerability was quite poor, and that asylum seekers tended to have more negative wellbeing. Many had no access to healthcare, requiring help with GP registration, with significant barriers preventing them from dealing with their health issues and having a negative impact on their wellbeing – a situation likely to be replicated outside London.
The most common barriers to accessing healthcare included: individuals not understanding the system and their rights (25.4%); bureaucracy (25.1%); language difficulties (13.6%); fear of arrest (10%); and denial of health coverage (7.5%). Just over 15% of service users reported having their access to healthcare denied.
Furthermore, the wellbeing of asylum seekers in hotel and barracks accommodation was of particular concern, with individuals experiencing high levels of mental distress. This type of accommodation is presenting major concerns for health and access to healthcare. Given current trends in the housing provision for asylum seekers these findings have major implications for asylum seeker housing policy.
Report co-author Laurence Lessard-Phillips, from the University of Birmingham, commented: “It is vital that migrants at risk of vulnerability have access to healthcare and high levels of wellbeing. Our analysis shows just how difficult it can be, even for trained volunteers to get individuals to register with a GP. DOTW UK’s volunteers have had to assist thousands of migrants to access healthcare over many years.
“Given that thousands of asylum seekers are dispersed outside of London in places where DOTW UK are unable to offer a service, there is a strong possibility than many are not accessing the healthcare they need and are entitled to.”
Ella Johnson, Interim Associate Director of Research – Doctors of the World UK said: ‘The people we work with are repeatedly met with barriers to accessing healthcare and preventing the escalation of their needs. Unsafe accommodation, combined with legal delays, hostile attitude, lack of information and routes to appropriate care, amount to the decline of people's physical and mental health, when they often present with existing vulnerabilities. It is critical that all people living in the UK have access to healthcare, regardless of their circumstances. ‘
The need for this project arose from the overall lack of an evidence base about the wellbeing of groups at risk of vulnerability about whom very few datasets exist.
Senior Research Fellow, IRiS
Staff profile for Laurence Lessard-Phillips, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS), School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham.
