Taxpayers are spending millions of pounds for asylum seekers to receive “at home” medical assessments in hotels, while millions of British patients face long waiting times in the NHS.
A Daily Express investigation has uncovered data showing how increased migration since 2021 has forced the health service to strike deals with local GP practices across the country.
In Sussex alone, the NHS was given less than four weeks’ notice to provide health services to 1,000 asylum seekers, with numbers subsequently rising to almost 3,000 migrants in Brighton, Crawley, Eastbourne and Hastings.
A federation of local GP practices in Cheshire has been awarded a £132,000 contract to provide ‘at home’ care to migrants in Haltondespite the fact that elderly patients at some doctors’ offices have to wait months for an appointment.
An investigation revealed the figures
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Leicestershire signed a 10-year £19.8 million contract with The Inclusion Group in August to provide services to asylum seekers and those who cannot see their local GP.
THE South West London NHS The board has awarded a two-year £47 million contract to support asylum seekers and homeless people in Merton and Wandsworth in 2022.
Mike Jones of Migration Watch said: “British patients are waiting more than 18 months for life-saving treatment, yet migrant hotels are being turned into makeshift doctors’ surgeries. »
“This is not just a health crisis, it is a betrayal of taxpayers who have spent their lives funding the NHS, only to be relegated to the back of the queue,” he said. he added.
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Some patients had to wait 18 months
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William Yarwood, media campaign director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, added: “Taxpayers will feel sick when they see the access illegal migrants have to our healthcare system.
“While millions are put on NHS waiting lists and forced to suffer, illegal migrants are being given ‘home care’ in their hotels.”
Retired tiler Jack Jones, 80, told reporters outside Brookvale Practice in Runcorn: “Someone needs to wake up and sort out the NHS. They can’t even help those who are already on their books…They tell us there’s no money, but then they spend thousands of dollars on these asylum seekers.”
At the Grove House practice, patient Mike Hague, 69, said: “We are stretched enough. We receive nothing in return from these asylum seekers. Charity begins at home is an old saying, but it’s true.
Grandmother Sylvia Ford, 80, said she waited a month for her last appointment. According to the British Medical Association, around 6.3 million patients were waiting for treatment in September, with around half waiting more than 18 weeks.
A government spokesperson said: “The Home Office and its contractors work closely with the NHS, local authorities and non-governmental organizations to ensure people can access healthcare and support they need, while protecting local services. »
NHS Sussex said its agreement with the GP Federation Alliance for Better Care had not impacted on services for other residents in the area.
Refugee Council CEO Enver Solomon has defended the NHS’s treatment of asylum seekers, citing the principle of free healthcare when needed.
He said: “The NHS was founded on the principle that anyone who needs treatment can receive it for free when they need it.
“Illnesses and conditions affect everyone, regardless of who we are and regardless of our immigration status, and they also spread indiscriminately, meaning that when someone loses access to health care health, this is clearly becoming a problem for all of us.
“This is why the NHS treats everyone, and we welcome the fact that British nurses and doctors – many of whom are themselves from migrant and refugee backgrounds – are providing healthcare to asylum seekers, so that they can access essential medical assistance when they need it.