Questions 3.4h to 3.4j – GP registration

As you prepare your application for the Home Office, you will not have an understanding of the family’s specific medical needs, but you don’t need to be a health expert to help the refugees you support navigate the healthcare system in the UK. At one point in our lives, we have all registered with a GP or seen a doctor and therefore have the knowledge it takes to help a newly arrived refugee do the same. However, as refugees often arrive with little documentation and will likely not speak English, it will be helpful to research how your local GP surgery will register the family.

All Groups who apply now will be welcoming families under the UKRS scheme, and many families may contain those who have medical needs.  

When speaking to a GP surgery, explain a little about the project as they may not have worked with resettled refugees before. The following questions will help you get an idea of what it takes to register a newly arrived refugee in the local GP surgery and will help you answer questions 3.4h-j:

• Find GP surgeries in your area
• What documentation is needed to register a new patient?
• Is the surgery accepting new patients?
• Will phone interpretation be provided? Be sure to remind them that this is available.
• Will they be able to book an appointment within one week of the family’s arrival?
• If the BRP card is delayed, will the family still be able to register?
• Is the surgery aware that they can claim a single payment of £2,600 per family member from the Home Office? This is a single payment that can be claimed in the first 12 months following the refugees’ arrival in the United Kingdom.
• If the surgery have not had refugees or asylum seekers as patients previously, direct them to the British Medical Association materials aimed at helping healthcare providers.