Mapping
the Provision of Mental Health Services for Asylum Seekers
and Refugees in London: A Report
Kim
Ward & David Palmer, March 2005
Introduction
The aims of this research are to map the provision of
mental health services for refugees and asylum seekers in
London, highlight any gaps in service provision and make
recommendation on the mental health needs of refugees and
asylum seekers. The research was carried out for the
Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health –
London Region. All research was undertaken by David Palmer
who is project manager of St Pancras Refugee Centre (SPARC)
and by Kim Ward research and information officer for the
information Centre and Asylum and Refugees in the UK
(ICAR).
Findings
The results from the mapping exercise demonstrate that the
mental health services for refugees and asylum seekers in
London are limited.
•
Only five of the eleven Mental
Health Trusts provide specialist services that are
specifically designed with the needs of refugees and asylum
seekers in mind. These services are provided by: Central
& North West London; North East London; Barnet, Enfield
& Haringey; Tavistock & Portman and Camden &
Islington. The details of these services can be found in
Appendix 1 of the report.
•
Some of the services provided by
the other Trusts, such as the Traumatic Stress Service
(South West London and St Georges) and the Institute of
Psychotrauma (East London and the City) provide specialist
trauma services for refugees and asylum seekers (who make
up about 50% of their client group), but they do not have a
team or an individual that works specifically with asylum
seekers and refugees.
•
Services for refugees and asylum seekers
within PCTs are very difficult to locate. The research has
shown that equality and diversity managers are often
unaware of individuals or departments that have a special
responsibility for refugees and asylum seekers. Some
commissioning departments also seem to be unaware of
services that the PCT funds. It is also very hard to locate
individuals, such as health visitors, whose remit is to
work with refugees and asylum seekers but who are not
attached to a particular team working with this group.
•
With exception of a handful of PCTs,
there appears to be a general lack of awareness that
refugees and asylum seekers are a group that have distinct
needs which are multiple and complex and that require
specialist knowledge.
•
There are only a small number of
‘specialist’ organisations outside the NHS that provide
culturally appropriate services to this group.
The recommendations from this section of the research are
integrated in to the final recommendations presented at the
end of this report.
ICAR
Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees in the UK
School of Social Science and Public Policy
King’s College London
Strand
London WC2R 2LS
Tel: 0207 848 2691
Email:
kim.ward@kcl.ac.uk
www.icar.org.uk
