PATIENTS NOT PASSPORTS: Migrants Access to Healthcare During the Coronavirus Crisis | June 2020 unable to post it to him. He then travelled to London by train to collect his prescription - putting himself at risk of contracting the virus, and was only able to afford the train fare with financial support from the respondent’s organisation. For migrants who are in the Government’s ‘extremely vulnerable’ group and therefore receiving additional support during the lockdown, relocation leaves them with a choice between having the physical space to isolate safely, or being close to their GP, community networks and continued support. Respondents note incidents of asylum seekers who have become stuck in Initial Accommodation (IA) during the pandemic.16 While guidelines state that migrants should be housed in IA for three weeks or less, there are reports of people staying for months at a time, which has increased during the lockdown. Respondents reported that access to healthcare in IA is extremely limited, both due to the advice provided by private accommodation managers or due to difficulties registering for GP surgeries without a fixed address. Migrants with particular health needs are being prioritised for dispersal from IA during the lockdown, but they are dispersed to areas where they are not registered with a GP and are unfamiliar with local services and support systems. Dispersals of Asylum Seekers are continuing for vulnerable families and [service users] with health needs but we are struggling to get prescriptions issued as there are no face to face consultations and GP’s are reluctant to prescribe for patients they have not met in person with no medical history.” 3.4 Fear of contracting Covid-19 The final major obstacle to accessing healthcare identified in our research is a direct result of Covid-19, with respondents noting that people are not seeking healthcare, or are more reluctant to, for fear of contracting the virus. This exists even in cases where people are unwell. As two respondents highlighted: people are very anxious to access healthcare due to ongoing risk of catching coronavirus e.g. not attending hospital even when very unwell due to concern about risk.” People we talk to are less likely to go to the doctor or the hospital. Some who have been sick are afraid of getting more sick by going to the hospital.” One healthcare professional describes how many of their migrant patients... are not always aware that healthcare can be accessed remotely, or will be managed safely if they need to attend in person, so seem to think that there is too much risk attached to expressing that they are unwell in any way for fear of contracting the virus.” Another respondent describes a case where “[an] asylum seeker I know contacted me in a panic as her son had cut his face, and she didn’t know if it was still possible to go to A&E, and couldn’t get a response from 111”. Our research also uncovered that many respondents link fear of contracting coronavirus with fears of receiving discriminatory care or treatment from the NHS. This cannot be decoupled from past experiences of using the NHS and other public services, in which many migrants have faced discrimination based on immigration status or race, having to prove their entitlement to care whilst others do not. 26