Agenda item

A presentation on how local agencies are working to support refugees and migrants, ensuring they have access to healthcare.

Carolyn Richardson gave a presentation on recent work undertaken with refugees and migrants in West Berkshire (Agenda Item 10). Key points from the presentation were:

·         The current focus was the Afghan resettlement and assistance programme set up by the Home Office, which had picked up pace since August.

·         Evacuees had initially spent two weeks in hotels as part of the managed quarantine service.

·         Due to the large numbers of families affected, the Home Office had then procured bridging / holding hotel accommodation, two of which were in West Berkshire.

·         The Council had been given less than 24 hours’ notice and it had been a significant challenge to prepare, since so little was known about the individuals involved.

·         Three families would be resettled within West Berkshire.

·         The families had arrived with nothing.

·         There were many children and a number of pregnant women.

·         There were concerns about their general health status:

o   Covid vaccines

o   Other routine vaccine status – MMR / flu

o   Basic screening – TB, smears, etc

o   Mental health and wellbeing

o   Dentistry

·         There were language and cultural challenges, but there were significant numbers of translators within the group.

·         They were keen to get on with their new lives and learn English.

·         There had been an overwhelming amount of support (e.g. donations, teaching English, etc).

·         There was a local authority liaison officer on site every day.

·         Links had been made with the Community Furniture Project and Greenham Common Trust regarding donations of goods and money to cover everyday essentials.

·         The Department of Work and Pensions was on site every day.

·         The Clinical Commissioning Group had provided support for:

o   Registrations with GPs

o   Midwife engagement

·         There had also been engagement from:

o   Health visitors

o   My Family First

o   Family Hub Teams

·         Children had been placed in education/entertainment.

·         Support had been provided with transport/basic integration.

·         Current activities included:

o   Education programmes in schools/on site

o   Programme of integration for all (e.g. public transport)

o   Alleviation of boredom

o   Work with CCG around mental health

o   Work with voluntary sector and other specialists

o   Work with the Home Office over the next steps

o   Transitioning from ‘critical incident’ to core services management of the additional activity.

·         Resettlement activity included:

o   Three homes offered in West Berkshire

o   Started matching process with the Home Office

o   Multi-agency coordination to ensure wrap-around care in place to support families.

o   The work has been based on that done for the Syrian programme in 2015, which had been successful.

(The Chairman noted that Councillor Lynne Doherty and Katie Summers had just left the meeting, so it was no longer quorate, but since no further votes were required, it was decided to carry on with the meeting.)

Councillor Jo Stewart thanked officers for taking on the challenge and going above and beyond what was expected of them. She also praised members of the public who had been very keen to be involved and offer help. Similarly, voluntary sector organisations had stepped forward to be involved.

Councillor Dominic Boeck echoed Councillor Stewart’s comments and thanked officers for their efforts.

Janet Weekes confirmed that the first family would be rehomed by the following week.