Wandsworth PCT ... Hidden populations: increasing access to GPs
Rhian Williams, a health visitor, remembers the first time a GP asked her to make a home visit to a refugee family – a Somali woman with an epileptic child.
“When I got there, I found a shared house with five women from different parts of the world,” she recalls. “Four of them were HIV positive. One was pregnant and one had a little girl who was also HIV positive. None of them were registered with GPs and two did not speak English. Two needed immediate hospitalization.
“That was my first case and I realised that this was a hidden population. We didn’t know people were out there because they were not on any local authority housing registers.”
Since then, as part of a team from Wandsworth PCT, supporting the health care of homeless people and asylum seekers, Ms Williams has focused on understanding how they fare in the NHS. She trains GPs and health professionals – they often have little idea about their situation – and guides refugees and asylum seekers through the system.
She recalls an 85-year-old Somali gentleman who was destitute. His daughter had not managed to register him with a GP. His health had become so bad that he was virtually bed bound. The simple act of finding him a GP, getting him a HC2 Exemption Certificate, securing him free dental care, eye tests and prescriptions, made a huge difference.
Refugees and asylum seekers, she says, often need more time than GPs can offer. “Take someone who is worried about whether they will gain asylum. They may be living with grief and possibly trauma. There may be no one to go with them for an HIV test and a positive result could tip them into a suicidal state. We are here for them.”