Asylum seekers and refugees - good practice examples
We are highlighting examples of good practice. Some of these are described in (sometimes hard to find) documents. Others have been provided by nurses working with excluded groups.
You might also like to refer to the guidance, policy and voices sections for further information on asylum seekers and refugees.
If you would like to send us an example of good practice please use the online form.
- Three Boroughs Primary Health Care Team: Health Inclusion Team - Refugee Services
- South East Migrant Health (semh) Network case studies
- Leicester City Assist Practice
- Lewisham Refugee Network
- NHS Employers: Asylum seeker and refugee project
Three Boroughs Primary Health Care Team: Health Inclusion Team - Refugee Services
The Refugee Health Team (RHT) is a multidisciplinary team working across Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham providing health care to refugees and asylum seekers. The team aims to improve access to the NHS for this client group and most services are provided at non-NHS venues in partnership with the voluntary sector. These pages describe the objectives of the team and the clinical services they offer. Team publications provide further details and include a Resource pack to help general practitioners and other primary health care professionals in their work with refugees and asylum seekers revised in 2012.
For further information see Health Inclusion Team - Refugee Services.
South East Migrant Health (semh) Network: Case studies
The network aims to enable health and social care professionals and voluntary agencies in the South East of England to work together more effectively to understand and meet the needs of migrants. These pages of case studies provides information about services and projects in different parts of the country that offer support to refugees and asylum seekers.
These include: a Refugee and Asylum Seekers Pre and Post Natal Support Group in Merseyside; Barnet Refugee Service which was established in 1995; the Westminster Health Support Team providing short term intensive support; a mental health project in Sheffield catering for patients suffering from depression, anxiety and stress-related symptoms. A detailed description of each project or service is provided - see Case studies.
Leicester City Assist Practice
The ASSIST Service, commissioned by Leicester City PCT, is a service dedicated to the primary health care provision for asylum seekers. It was established in 2004 as a nurse led primary care service for all new asylum seekers, destitute asylum seekers and those asylum seekers in the UK before the New Asylum Model (Leicester PCT 2007).
In a paper written in 2008 the ASSIST Service was described as providing care for over 90 per cent of asylum seekers and approximately 65 per cent of destitute asylum seekers within Leicester. At that time a far higher proportion of asylum seekers were seeking help from ASSIST than comparable national figures, indicating the accessibility of the service. This was achieved partly through close working relationships with Refugee Action and the Red Cross to ensure those accessing the service could get the support and care that they need (Race for Life 2008).
The service won the Strategic Health Service award for innovation in primary care in 2005.
As well as a full general practice service the Assist Practice offers additional help and support for a range of issues that may affect asylum seekers - additional support can include "advice and assistance for issues such as mental health and wellbeing, malnutrition, sexual health, infectious diseases, stress related problems and dermatological conditions". For details of the service see Leicester City Assist Practice.
Lewisham Refugee Network
The network offers free, independent and confidential advice and information on issues such as immigration, health, housing, education, welfare benefits, training and employment. Specific projects and areas of work are described in the Voluntary Action Lewisham website (Voluntary Action Lewisham 2011). A health project aims to help refugees and asylum seekers with access to medical practitioners and raise awareness on healthy lifestyles including organising activities to support this. A project for refugee and asylum-seeking women provides counselling and therapeutic support to vulnerable women who are victims of trafficking, domestic and sexual abuse.
The network also facilitates the development of the Lewisham Refugee Forum which is a forum of refugee community organisations which also liaises with similar organisations in Lewisham and the neighbouring boroughs.
For further information see Lewisham Refugee Network.
NHS Employers: Asylum seeker and refugee project - Plymouth Teaching Primary Care Trust
This describes a project undertaken by Plymouth Teaching Primary Care Trust following a review of service delivery by the Asylum Seeker and Refugee Mental Health Team which identified a number of issues that needed to be addressed. A lack of service user involvement was one of the issues highlighted. The PCT recruited and trained three volunteers from the asylum seeker and refugee community who were then able to recommend improvements to the service from a user perspective. Recommendations were made around staff training on cultural differences and the impact these have on health, and some additions that could be made to provide better support to clients. Volunteers were also able to help clinicians in clinical sessions which improved both the assessment and treaments processes.
This case study appears as part of the 'shared learning' area on the NHS Employers website - see Asylum seeker and refugee project.
References
Most of the items in the reference list are available online. They were last accessed on 26 March 2013. Some of them are in PDF format - see how to access PDF files.
Leicester City Assist Practice website.
Leicester City PCT (2007) The ASSIST Service: Third Annual Report. Leicester: NHS Leicester City.
Race for Life (2008) Leicester City PCT peer review targeted interventions: outcome paper (PDF 287.59KB). Manchester: Race for Health.
Voluntary Action Lewisham (2011) Lewisham Refugee Network. VAL website.