Right to health for all workers

Everyone in the UK is entitled to register with and see a GP. However, many migrants are unable to access the healthcare they are entitled to as they are wrongly turned away from GP practices.   Doctors of the World UK’s volunteers help people access their right to care. On International Workers Day [link], we want to share the stories of the domestic workers we meet at our clinic. Some of them are undocumented as they were trafficked to the country, others have fled from abusive employers, once in the UK. Joanna was one of these women. She is a member of The Voice of Domestic Workers, an education and support group for migrant workers that we work closely with. Yasmin recounted her experience at a workshop on healthcare and storytelling we ran in collaboration with Migrant Voice.     “I arrived here in the UK in 2013 and started working as a housekeeper/nanny. In 2017, I felt pain on my neck so I searched online for a private clinic because I am scared of my legal status here. I went to a walk-in centre and they charged me £200 to see a doctor, who just gave me some antibiotics. Then a “friend” of mine asked me if I wanted to be registered with a GP and she said I have to pay her £300 but I never saw her again! My last resort was to get a private GP, which we all know costs a lot of money.” Joanna’s situation is a common one for domestic workers in the UK. Many are asked for documents they simply don’t have, and they are too scared to access a...
Source: Doctors of the World News - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Uncategorised Source Type: news