News

GPs in Southampton have drawn up an agreement to distribute asylum seekers across all the city's practices, improving their access to basic medical services.

The system, which uses in-surgery and telephone translators, was set up because some practices were receiving more asylum seekers than others and could not cope with their health and cultural needs.

Last year, some GPs refused to take any more on to their practice lists because of the shortage of translation services.

Before being assigned a practice to register with, asylum seekers are "processed" by a specialist centre to identify their health needs and verify their status.


Dr Bob Button, chief executive of Wessex Local Medical Committee, said the system had cut complaints.

"In some areas, authorities took a hands-on, organised approach and got GPs involved from the start. That did not happen here and they came to regret it."