GPs are 'failing to look after migrants'

Accident and emergency departments are being flooded with minor complaints because GPs are failing to treat migrants, an aid organisation said today.

MÈdecins du Monde opened its first UK clinic in the East End last year amid fears some Londoners struggle to get healthcare.

After treating 349 people, 28 of them British, the charity claims GPs discourage foreigners from registering, even if they are long-term residents.

More than three-quarters of the total needed help to register with a doctor and 39 were pregnant women, many of whom said they had previously been refused care.

Susan Wright, director of MÈdecins du Monde UK, said: "People are being discouraged from making a formal application to join a surgery.

"This is happening because doctors' surgeries are asking for too much in terms of identification, or they ask migrants for extra documentation. It means they are turned away and don't come back."

London has the highest A&E attendances in the country, with almost 490 per 1,000 of the age-weighted population.

Ms Wright said: "There is no evidence that people come here simply to access healthcare."