The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has published a statement calling for the abolition of all NHS charging, becoming the first Royal College to call for more than a temporary suspension of these discriminatory and harmful Hostile Environment policies.
In the statement the RCPCH calls on the UK Government to:
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Abolish the legislation that provides for NHS charging in all four nations of the UK;
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Ensure that patient data remains confidential within the NHS, is not shared with the Home Office, and cannot be used for immigration enforcement purposes;
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Stop any expansion of NHS charging and protect universal access to primary care and public health services.
You can share the news and encourage other Royal Colleges to take action by retweeting Medact or Migrants Organise.
RCPCH has also produced detailed guidance for child health professionals on supporting patients and families who are facing NHS charging and have launched a reporting tool to facilitate ongoing data collection on the impacts of NHS charging.
You can find further information on campaigning against NHS charging in the Patients not Passports toolkit.
Doctors of the World ‘Hands Up for Our Health’ Briefing on How to Engage with your Local MP
This online meeting will take place via Zoom 10:30am-12pm on 7 September, and will help participants learn more about how to become an effective local (and national) campaigner for Safe Surgeries and the need to expand open-access vaccination clinics.
You can register for the meeting here.
Maternity Action Webinar on NHS charging regulations
To launch their new case study report, ‘Breach of Trust: Incorrect implementation of the Overseas Charging Regulations by NHS Trusts in England’, Maternity Action are holding a webinar on Friday 17 September 2021 at 12.00– 13.30pm. The webinar will discuss widespread poor practices and errors of law made by NHS Trusts in implementing the NHS charging regulations for overseas visitors in England. You can register for the webinar here.
