The Safe Surgeries Network is a Doctors of the World initiative aimed at reducing the barriers faced by migrant populations in accessing healthcare.

In November 2019, City and Hackney CCG Chair, Mark Rickets, Governing Body Safeguarding Lead, Nikhil Katiyar, and Head of Quality, Jenny Singleton were co-signatories to a letter encouraging local practices to sign up to the initiative. At a minimum, signing up means declaring your practice a ‘Safe Surgery’ for everyone and ensuring that lack of ID or proof of address, immigration status or language are not barriers to patient registration.

Practices can sign up to become a Safe Surgery at the Doctors of the World website which also includes a resources to support the initiative including a toolkit, training and a model QI project for trainee GPs.

Previous CCG work to support migrant access to healthcare

Between 2015 and 2019 the CCG ran a grant scheme with Hackney CVS which commissioned signposting activity from a number of migrant community organisations, with a view to:

• Helping migrants understand and make more appropriate use of NHS services and;
• Ensure that local practices are aware of the barriers to migrant access to primary care.

The final report on the grant scheme detailing the learning can be downloaded above.

As part of the grant scheme the CCG and Hackney CVS also worked with Doctors of the World to produce a webinar on the health issues affecting migrant populations.

Watch webinar

Useful resources

The London Borough of Hackney produced the Migrant Health Needs Assessment 2018 which gives a comprehensive overview of the barriers to migrant access to healthcare.

Additionally, the BMA produced their refugee and asylum seeker health resource for doctors who may be uncertain about the specific health needs and entitlement to different types of care of patients who are refugees and asylum seekers.

Government guidance on NHS entitlements for migrant health is also available online and the CCG has produced a fact sheet which collates a wide range of links and resources which GPs supporting local migrants may find useful (available for download above).

Downloads

MR letter to practices on Safe Surgeries

Information and Signposting 2015-19 Evaluation (report contains an executive summary if you don’t have time to read the whole thing!)

Useful links and resources: Migrant Health