Health Bill [HL]

I, too, support the amendment. I have been struck by the wide range of individuals and groups who are dismayed by the Government’s current policy on healthcare access for refused asylum seekers, whether they be children, old people or torture victims. During my time on the Joint Committee on Human Rights—the noble Lord, Lord Judd, has reminded us of that—I was struck by the information we received from people working in the health field as to how the policy was operated, which seemed to all of us to be in many cases inhumane and counterproductive. Since that was two years ago, I had a look at the more recent evidence session before the Home Affairs Select Committee on this question, which was in November of last year. That was a very informative session, some of which is worth putting on the record today. Professor Nathanson of the BMA described the situation as, ""the asylum seekers, the failed asylum seekers, the undocumented individuals"," do not access healthcare very often. ""The evidence is that they access services late; that they believe they have no right of access; but very often they are frightened to access; and … more often of course they do not know how to"." The committee asked what would happen to a doctor who acts in a clinically disobedient way and provides medication when the patient has not paid. The answer came from Lisa Power at the Terrence Higgins Trust. She said: ""There would certainly be disciplinary activity within the hospital were the hospital to seek that. There are a large number of clinicians who are so"—"