MIGRANTS are facing more barriers to healthcare during the pandemic, despite government reassurances of free access, a report revealed over the weekend.

Public health charity Medact warned that exemptions on charges and immigration checks were “not working,” and that barriers, from hostile environment policies to language and translation issues, could be contributing to the disproportionately high rates of Covid-19 deaths among black and ethnic minority communities.

In a survey of 53 migrant support organisations in England and Wales, 70 per cent of respondents stated that the pandemic had negatively affected migrants’ willingness and ability to seek healthcare, the report revealed.

The charity found that 57 per cent of case workers said that migrants were not accessing healthcare for fear of being charged, data-sharing or other migrant enforcement concerns. 

Since 2015, non-EU migrants have had to pay a health surcharge of £400 per person per year, while they also face up-front costs for “non-urgent” healthcare and immigration checks. 

NHS debt can also be used as a reason by the Home Office to deny visa applications.  

The report highlights a case where these fears may have led to death of an undocumented Filipino migrant.

The man, known as Elvis, refused to call an ambulance while severely ill for two weeks with Covid-19 for fear of the costs and being reported to the Home Office. 

“Elvis’s death is likely to be one among many,” the report notes, adding that charities frequently receive reports that migrants were too fearful to seek help, “often with horrific consequences.” 

Although Covid-19 was added to a list of conditions exempt from charges by the government earlier this year, evidence showed that patients were still facing immigration checks. 

One respondent reported a case where an NHS trust sent a letter to a patient’s home asking him to prove his immigration status within seven days while he was in a coma with Covid-19. The man was a British citizen. 

Medact is demanding that hostile environment policies are banned from the NHS. 

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said NHS trusts have been advised that no immigration checks are required for overseas visitors who are known to be undergoing testing or treatment for Covid-19 only.