Britain spends millions on NHS care for migrants at hotels while Britons ‘wait over 18 months for vital treatments’
Taxpayers are spending millions of pounds for asylum seekers to receive “at home” medical assessments inside hotels whilst millions of British patients face extensive NHS waiting times.
An investigation by the Daily Express has uncovered data showing how increased migration since 2021 has forced the health service to strike deals with local GP practices across the country.
In Sussex alone, the NHS was given less than four weeks’ notice to provide health services to 1,000 asylum seekers, with numbers later rising to almost 3,000 migrants across Brighton, Crawley, Eastbourne, and Hastings.
A federation of local GP practices in Cheshire secured a £132,000 contract to provide “at-home” care for migrants in Halton, despite elderly patients at some surgeries facing month-long waits for appointments.
Leicestershire signed a £19.8million 10-year contract with The Inclusion Group in August to provide services for asylum seekers and those unable to see their local GP.
The South West London NHS board awarded a £47million two-year contract to care for asylum seekers and the homeless in Merton and Wandsworth in 2022.
Mike Jones from Migration Watch said: “British patients are waiting over 18 months for vital treatments, yet migrant hotels are being turned into makeshift surgeries.”
“This isn’t just a health crisis – it’s a betrayal of taxpayers who’ve spent their lives funding the NHS, only to be shoved to the back of the queue,” he added.
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William Yarwood, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, added: “Taxpayers will feel sick when they see the access illegal migrants are getting to our healthcare system.
“While millions sit on NHS waiting lists and are forced to suffer, illegal migrants are enjoying ‘at home care’ in their hotels.”
Retired tiler Jack Jones, 80, told reporters outside Brookvale Practice in Runcorn: “Someone needs to wake up and sort out the NHS. They can’t even help the people already on their books…They tell us there is no money but then they spend thousands on these asylum seekers.”
At Grove House surgery, patient Mike Hague, 69, said: “We are stretched enough. We get nothing back from these asylum seekers. Charity starts at home is an old saying but it’s a true one.”
Grandmother Sylvia Ford, 80, reported waiting a month for her latest appointment. According to the British Medical Association, around 6.3 million patients were waiting for treatment as of September, with approximately half waiting over 18 weeks.
A Government spokesman said: “The Home Office and its contractors work closely with the NHS, local authorities and non-governmental organisations to ensure that people can access the health care and support they need, while protecting local services.”
NHS Sussex claimed its deal with GP Federation Alliance for Better Care had not impacted services for other residents in the region.
CEO of the Refugee Council Enver Solomon defended the NHS’s treatment of asylum seekers, citing the principle of free healthcare at the point of need.
He said: “The NHS was founded on the principle that anyone who needs treatment can receive it free at the point of need.
“Diseases and illnesses affect everyone, regardless of who we are and what our immigration status might be, and it also spreads indiscriminately, which means when one person loses access to healthcare, that clearly becomes a problem for us all.
“That’s why the NHS treats everyone, and we welcome the fact that Britain’s nurses and doctors – many of whom come from migrant and refugee backgrounds themselves – provide healthcare for those seeking asylum, so they can access essential medical support when they need it.”