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:
If you are applying for approval in principle and have yet to secure housing, you may not know which GP surgery will be closest or most convenient for the family you support.
However, most GP surgeries will have similar registration processes so simply contact the surgery in the area where the family you support is likely to live in order to demonstrate on your application that you understand what is needed.
3.4i. Is a further tick box answer and one of your sponsor obligations. If the GP practice does have a different system for registration which means you will not be able to register a family within one week of arrival, explain this here.
Explain here the steps you have taken to explore what dental health services are available locally, and what support there is for those needing support for their mental health, should this be required. You could consider asking:
Your Group may find it helpful to research different dental providers in your area in preparation for the refugee family’s arrival:
Whereas NHS doctors and hospitals have a duty and funding to provide interpreters, dentists and opticians do not so you should plan to have interpreters available for these appointments in order to ensure they have informed consent for procedures.
Consider other health related needs the family might have, such as a need for the opticians or family planning services.
Explore Reset’s impact as we have supported the Community Sponsorship movement across the UK— training, mobilising, and supporting community groups to open their doors to those who need it most.
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Reset’s Theory of Change sets out what needs to happen for community-led welcome to succeed and the role Reset plays in making that happen.
Research, monitoring and evaluation are essential for making evidence-based decisions that will support Community Sponsorship to grow and flourish.
Find out how Community Sponsorship helps refugee families in need build a new life in the UK with confidence and dignity.
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