The
Migrant Health Guide
An online resource
for primary care practitioners Karen Wagner Travel and Migrant Health Section,
Health Protection Agency
New multilingual
guide seeks to tackle UK migrant worker exploitation
An
online guide to help combat the exploitation of migrant workers, so that
everyone is treated fairly, has been launched by the Trades Union Congress
(TUC), with European support. The guide, Working in the UK, is available
in 13 languages, including Polish, Bulgarian and Romanian.
Working
in the UK provides workers with information and guidance on crucial issues
such as pay, employment contracts, working hours, sick pay, and health and
safety. It also explains how trade unions help workers deal with mistreatment,
such as bogus self-employment or non-payment of the minimum wage, and bargain
for better pay and conditions. TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:
“Unscrupulous employers have taken advantage of the fact that migrant workers
are often unaware of their employment rights. “Migrant workers are regularly
forced to accept appalling working conditions, low wages and a complete absence
of rights. The issue of migrants undercutting existing workers has been
exploited by some politicians to win support for anti-immigrant policies that
only increase social tension and do nothing to clamp down on bad bosses and
improve conditions for all workers.
Brain drain: Migrants
are the lifeblood of the NHS, it's time the UK paid for them
Globally,
universal health coverage – access to quality health services without the risk
of financial hardship – is now firmly in the spotlight. Listed as a priority by
the World Health Organisation (WHO) and even the World Bank, it also
appears prominently in the post-2015 framework. This is an exciting moment for
those of us who work towards the realisation of Health for All, and in
particular for all those who are are currently denied healthcare.
But
the realisation of the dream requires strong health systems, and strong health
systems require health workers. Yet the WHO predicts that the current
global shortage of 7.2 million health workers will increase to 12.9 million by
2035, with the poorest countries bearing the brunt of those shortages.
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/jan/06/migrants-nhs-compensation-global-health-brain-drain
‘Inequality has
become a challenge to us as moral beings’
Britain
is beset by a crisis of purpose. We don’t know who we are any longer, where we
are going or even if there is a “we”. The country is so passionately attached
to past glories because there are so few to celebrate in the present. The
crisis is compounded since we have been told for 30 years that the route to
universal wellbeing is to abandon the expense of justice and equity and so
allow the judgments of the market to go unobstructed. Private decisions in
markets supposedly are morally and economically better than any public or
collective action. As a result the sense of the “we” that binds a society
together and gives us reason to belong is being lost. We take refuge in looking
after number one, because there is no sense in, nor reason for, doing anything
else.
Migrants to face NHS
emergency care charges in England
They
include extended prescription fees, the introduction of charges for some
emergency care and higher rates for optical and dental services.
However,
GP and nurse consultations will remain free, and nobody will be turned away in
an emergency.
Ministers
say they are keen to clamp down on any abuse of the system, but doctors'
leaders have voiced concerns.
The
government had considered charging for GP consultations, but decided that easy
initial access was important to prevent risks to public health such as HIV, TB
and sexually transmitted infections. Other types of primary care services that
are being considered for charging include minor surgery that is carried out by
a GP and physiotherapy that has been referred through a GP.
