FIVE hundred GP practices have now pledged to ensure that undocumented migrants and other vulnerable communities can access healthcare. 

The Safe Surgeries initiative, created by leading health charity Doctors of the World, was launched in 2018 in a bid to tackle barriers faced by marginalised communities, including migrants, refugees and rough sleepers, when they try to access primary healthcare. 

Doctors of the World head of policy and advocacy Anna Miller said yesterday she was “delighted” that the charity had reached the milestone of having 500 GPs sign up.  

GPs that declare themselves a “Safe Surgery” have pledged that a lack of ID or proof of address, immigration status or language will not prevent patient registration. 

Despite rules stating that patients do not need to provide proof of address or ID to register with a GP, recent research found that less than a quarter of practices would register someone without these documents. 

“Access to primary healthcare is the right of anyone living in Britain, yet many GP surgeries don’t recognise their responsibility to some of the most socially excluded members of their community,” Ms Miller said.

“This has to change if we are going to tackle the health inequalities which continue to challenge our health service.”

Dr Hannah Fox, a GP based at the Lawson Road Surgery in Norwich, which is a safe surgery, said: “As this last year has shown, it is impossible to tackle public health issues, such as the Covid 19 pandemic, if we don’t actually provide healthcare to the whole of the community.”

Fears over immigration enforcement and NHS charges in the healthcare system have also been shown to act as a barrier, deterring migrants from seeking medical help as well as the Covid-19 vaccine.

Migrant rights group Regularise founder Munya Radzi said: “We are pleased to hear that so many GP surgeries have signed up to the Safe Surgeries Initiative, and we hope many more do as being proactive and explicit will aid in giving undocumented people confidence to register with GP surgeries knowing that it will be done safely.

“This will in turn increase the uptake of vaccines whilst also allowing people who have struggled to access any health services to at least have access to primary care when needed.

“However, the government could do more by removing all barriers to accessing universal health care for anyone living in the UK regardless of their immigration status.”