DESTITUTE migrants have to wait an average of 37 weeks for urgent medical care because of NHS charging regulations, a new study shows. 

Research by Doctors of the World found cases of children as young as four and people aged up to 75 living in England being refused NHS care because of their immigration status. 

The study, published yesterday, found that NHS charging is being applied to individuals despite them having “no realistic prospects of being able to pay for the NHS services they receive.”

Under rules introduced in 2017, migrants in England who do not have indefinite leave to remain are charged, upfront, 150 per cent of the cost of their care. 

The audit, the first of its kind to look into delays in treatment experienced by migrants, was based on 27 people seeking NHS care between 2018 and this year, the majority of them destitute. 

Of the cases looked at by the researchers, the average length of delay was just over 37 weeks from the point of diagnosis, more than twice the NHS target time of 18 weeks. 

Two-thirds faced delays of more than six months, while the longest time recorded was over four years. 

This contrasts starkly with the experience of NHS patients who do not have to pay fees, with almost 80 per cent receiving treatment in less than 18 weeks before March this year. 

Doctors of the World head of policy and advocacy Anna Miller said that the delays not only cause migrants’ disorders to worsen but also have a severe impact on their mental health. 

“It keeps people in a perpetual state of limbo and ill health and in some of the cases, because of the serious nature of the condition, they feel like they are being left to die slowly and that has a huge impact on their mental health,” she told the Morning Star.

While the government claims that urgent treatment should never be withheld, the study found that NHS trusts frequently do so. 

Urgent treatment is defined as that which is not needed immediately to save a patient’s life but which cannot wait until the person can reasonably be expected to leave the country.

Migrants Organise said the research shows “that 'safeguards' to protect vulnerable groups cannot and do not work.”

Campaign organiser Aliya Yule told the Morning Star: “It is clear from this report and much evidence before it, that this policy is an ideological move from an increasingly far-right government which wants to scapegoat migrants to distract from their destruction of public services.

“Instituting charging for migrants today will be translated into charging more people, of mass privatisation and the destruction of the NHS tomorrow.”