Health
Useful Health Organizations
- Doctors Of The World: work tirelessly to empower excluded people to access healthcare. Working both at home and abroad through over 350 projects, they provide medical care, strengthen health systems and address underlying barriers to healthcare.
- Maternity Action: is the UK’s maternity rights charity dedicated to promoting, protecting and enhancing the rights of all pregnant women, new mothers and their families to employment, social security and health care.
- NHS Services: find information in relation to GP's, Pharmacies, Prescriptions, Hospitals, Mental Health, Visiting or Moving to England
- Birmingham Healthy MINDS: provide a NHS primary care psychological therapies service for people with depression and anxiety symptoms
Help with Health Costs
People seeking protection, or on a low income can get help with health costs, NHS website info here. This means free prescriptions, travel costs to hospital appointments, eye and dental care. Fill out an HC1 form to get a HC2 Certificate.
When you claim asylum, and apply for asylum support, you will be given an HC2 certificate. The Home Office should send you updated ones automatically, but you may need to reapply after 6 months, when it expires. Contact Migrant Help for assistance, there free asylum helpline is available 24/7/365 and accessible to all asylum seekers in the UK. Just call 0808 8010 503.
You can pick up a form at most GP surgeries. Or get it online here. You can also apply online if your not in section 95 asylum support.
If you need help filling in the form, contact a local advice agency.
For women getting universal credit or means tested benefits you may also have an exemption, getting travel, optical, dental and prescription help – you can find this information on a printed letter or a section of your online journal.
Info on the NHS website: The updated prescription forms include a new exemption box U ‘Universal Credit and meets the criteria’ for patients who are entitled to free NHS prescriptions because they claim Universal Credit and their earnings in their last assessment period are within the threshold.
If you’re entitled to free NHS prescriptions because you claim Universal Credit and you meet the earnings criteria above, until you are presented with the updated prescription form you should continue to tick the Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance box (box K).