Migration & Health
The right of everyone to ‘the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health’ is enshrined within the 1966 UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) placing both a moral and a legal imperative on the UK to produce policies...Over 150 Health Professionals Call For Scrapping Of Charges & ID Checks in NHS
In a letter published in The Evening Standard, over 150 healthcare professionals call for the scrapping of healthcare charges and ID checks for migrants in the NHS.
First we closed our doors to patients – and now doctors too?
Despite a staff shortfall, the government has blocked visas for 400 doctors recruited by the NHS. Is government prioritising its commitment to immigration controls over patient well-being and public health?
#HungerForFreedom: Practical notes from a doctor for hunger strikers
In light of the hunger strike in Yarl’s Wood IRC, we publish practical notes for people on strike produced by Medact trustee Dr. Frank Arnold.
Over 30 organisations deem government review of changes to healthcare charges inadequate
Medact and over 30 organisations send an open letter to the Department of Health and Social Care to express our concerns about their limited review into the latest changes to healthcare charging.
Healthcare charging – unethical practice, unacceptable outcomes
A junior doctor writes about the harm to patients caused by the latest changes to the NHS regulations expanding the scope of charging migrants for healthcare, arguing that it complicates crucial decisions made by health professionals.
First do no harm – Clinical roles in preventing and reducing damage to vulnerable immigration detainees
The available evidence shows that the objectives of significantly reducing the number of vulnerable individuals detained and the duration of their detention have not been achieved by the changes to policy and practice introduced since the initial review into welfare in detention of vulnerable persons produced by Mr Steven Shaw in January 2016.
In our submission to the new review we consider what has gone wrong, and make recommendations for what needs to happen to improve the situation.
Healthcare shouldn’t be a hostile environment…
This winter, you can help us stop damaging changes to the NHS.