By Vivienne Russell | 8 November 2013
Government plans to impose a charge for NHS services to migrants could adversely affect vulnerable people who have been trafficked into the country, MPs have warned.
In its latest report on the work of the immigration service, the Home Affairs select committee said it had no objection in principle to the introduction of a charge for NHS access for people who are in the UK only temporarily and would therefore not otherwise be making a long-term contribution to the NHS.
But it added: ‘We recommend that the government distinguish between those who are temporarily in the country through choice – to work, study or visit family ¬– and those who are here through no choice of their own, such as refugees and victims of trafficking. To charge these vulnerable people for access to NHS care would be wholly wrong.’
The MPs called on the government to run a pilot looking at the feasibility of enforced private health insurance for short-term visitors who require a visa.
‘We note that other countries such as Australia have a similar scheme in place,’ the committee said.
The report, the last on the work of the UK Border Agency before it was split up and taken back into the Home Office, also highlighted the size of the backlog.
Committee chair Keith Vaz said: ‘There are still over 430,000 cases languishing in the backlogs, enough to fill Wembley stadium almost five times over.
‘As we have said on numerous occasions, the backlogs must be cleared as a matter of priority, only then will the Home Office be able to tackle the deeper problems in the immigration system.’
