Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many visits there were by NHS staff to (a) hotels and (b) other accommodation housing irregular migrants in each of the last five years.

The Department and NHS England do not hold the information requested. The National Health Service is a residency-based system, which means that people who do not live here on a lawful, settled basis must contribute to the cost of their care. However, some of the most vulnerable people arriving in the United Kingdom, including refugees and asylum seekers, do not pay for NHS treatment.

The Home Office and its contractors work closely with the NHS, local authorities, and non-governmental organisations to ensure that people can access the health care and support they need. All asylum seeker accommodation providers have a duty and requirement to assist people who need it to access the healthcare systems in their local area. The Department of Health and Social Care does not hold information on the services commissioned by the Home Office.

As for any NHS patient, care may be delivered by independent providers as part of the public healthcare system. This does not mean asylum seekers are in receipt of private healthcare.