MIDWIVES, doctors and patients alike are up in arms over moves to deny pregnant women NHS treatment.
St George’s Hospital in Tooting, south west London, is to launch a pilot scheme where pregnant women who do not provide their photo ID, passport or current proof of their right to remain in the UK will not be booked in for treatment.
It is this scheme which the Tory government wants rolled out nationally. Doctors and human rights charities state that, in refusing to treat pregnant women, Trusts will be breaking the law.
Doctors’ union the BMA underlined that doctors will ‘not be made to act as border guards,’ while midwives said that these measures could have ‘a serious impact on the health of the mother and her baby’. Human rights charity Birthrights stated: ‘Denying pregnant women maternity care is both unlawful and dangerous.’
The BMA said: ‘Hospitals are not allowed to withhold maternity care from any patient, including those who are eligible to be charged. This is because maternity care is deemed to be “immediately necessary” care. While those accessing NHS services should be eligible to do so, a doctor’s duty is to treat the patient who’s in front of them, not to act as a border guard.’
Cathy Warwick, RCM chief executive, said the move by St George’s University Foundation Trust ‘is a concern. The proposals mean women who attend hospital would have to show photo ID or proof of their right to remain, for example a visa or their asylum status, before receiving care.
‘Most importantly, this move could also be dangerous because it could deter women from seeking care in a timely fashion. This could potentially have a serious impact on the health of the mother and her baby and the outcome of the pregnancy.’
Rebecca Schiller, chief executive, said: ‘Birthrights believes that these plans will act as a disincentive to access maternity care that will put the lives of already vulnerable women and their babies at risk.’
She added that the charity’s legal team is ‘working with urgency’ to address the issues and its lawyers are writing to the trust to outline the reasons why the pilot should be dropped.
At Prime Minister’s question time in Parliament yesterday, Labour leader Corbyn said, addressing Theresa May: ‘At the Conservative Party conference, the Prime Minister said she wants Britain to be a country where it does not matter where you were born.
‘Now we have learnt that pregnant women will be forced to hand over their passports at NHS passports, no ultrasound without photographic ID, heavily pregnant women sent home on icy roads to get a passport. Are these really the actions of a country where it doesn’t matter where you were born?’
