Report says detainees are released in unplanned and chaotic way, with little to no onward care
A new report released last Thursday by Medical Justice details how people are being released from Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) without the provision of the medical care they need, meaning the Home Office is failing in its duty of care.
The 45-page report, Detained and Discarded: Vulnerable people released from immigration detention in medically unsafe way, can be read here.
The report is based on a review of 15 cases of individuals released from IRCs between December 2019 and August 2021. In addition, Medical Justice used information provided by IRC healthcare teams, NHS England and NHS Improvement, as well as information received from the Home Office following Freedom of Information requests.
In the report, Medical Justice finds that many vulnerable and unwell people, including Medical Justice's own clients, are being released from IRCs without any measures in place to ensure the continuity of their care in the community, compromising their safety and health.
"Our evidence shows that many of those released from detention experience it as incomplete, unplanned, chaotic and with little to no onward care in place," Medical Justice said.
As immigration detention itself causes trauma, the report explains that detainees are more likely to be unwell and need secondary care in the community when they are released.
The report adds: "What is more, Medical Justice's evidence shows that Home Office policies on the safe release of 'Adults at Risk' are not being consistently implemented in practice by IRCs, healthcare teams or the Home Office. Most Medical Justice clients are considered to be an Adult at Risk level 2 or 3 at the time of their release. They are often released because of their mental and/or physical vulnerabilities documented in Medico-Legal Reports which have been flagged to the Home Office by Medical Justice. Yet, Medical Justice sees repeated cases of vulnerable people released from detention without any or very limited onward care and referral, including those who had very recently attempted suicide."
According to Medical Justice, nearly all of it clients did not have an adequate onward care plan in place or implemented upon release. The clients also frequently reported that they were not given any of their medication or were not given an adequate supply upon release from detention.
Medical Justice commented: "Our evidence highlights the range of issues Medical Justice clients faced which disrupted the continuity of healthcare when they were released from immigration detention. This included the lack of an adequate onward care plan in place, release of people with specialist and complex needs without referrals to general and specialist healthcare, release without any or an adequate supply of medication and release without provision of information or guidance on accessing healthcare in the community. Many experienced several of these issues at the same time, with a domino effect of one barrier leading to another. For example, clients who are not referred to general and specialist healthcare by the IRC healthcare provider, are also released without being provided any information or support in understanding their entitlement to or how to access a GP, resulting in long delays in accessing treatment for their health issues."
Dr Rachel Bingham, Clinical Advisor at Medical Justice, said: "These unsafe practices lead to greater unmet health needs, and to more serious health consequences, requiring more and longer treatments once people are able to access care. In the year reported on, over seventeen thousand people were released, despite the stated purpose of their detention being to remove them, indicating the senselessness of exposing people to these negative health consequences"
By highlighting the issues in its report, Medical Justice says it is seeking significant improvements in the Home Office's continuity of care of all individuals upon release. The report makes a number of recommendations to the Home Office.