§ Mr. RosindellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent guidelines he has issued to general practitioners on accepting asylum seekers; and what assessment he has made of the effect on existing patients. [92843]
§ Ms BlearsThe most recently published guidance is Health Service Circular 1999/018. This explains that refugees or persons applying for asylum in the United Kingdom are regarded as ordinarily resident. They are therefore eligible to register with a general practitioner or personal medical services pilot provider for national health service primary care services.
Primary care trusts are responsible for securing all health services for their populations. In doing this they will continually assess whether or not the current configuration of primary care services matches the need of the current population. This will include assessing the local impact of asylum seekers.