HC Deb 14 March 1994 vol 239 cc501-2W
Mr. Bayley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what access people held in detention by the immigration service have to a doctor.

Mr. Charles Wardle

It is our normal practice to ask port medical inspectors to examine those passengers who are detained upon their arrival in the United Kingdom. Those subsequently detained in immigration detention centres have access on a daily basis to either a resident or visiting doctor. The Prison Service is responsible for providing similar access to a doctor for those Immigration Act detainees accommodated in prisons, and the police for those held for short periods in police cells.