Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the promotional material entitled Portland Port: Factsheet, published on 29 December 2023, how many staff work in the medical facility on the Bibby Stockholm.

Appropriate inspections have been conducted by Plymouth Marine Office on behalf of Maritime & Coastguard Agency (PSC Inspection) and report issued on the 8^th July 2023. In accordance with sec 197 of the Shipping Act 1994, Barbados Maritime Ship Registry duly inspected the vessel and found it to comply with the provisions of the said Act, Certificate of Inspection (03 Flag Safety Inspection) was issued on the 1^st September 2023, and is valid for 12 months.

We have no plans to publish the inspection reports and the documents are used and held for internal purposes only.

The medical facility on the barge is staffed 5 days a week to provide an onsite primary healthcare service with which the asylum seekers will register; this means individuals will not need to register with a local GP practice. The medical team has previous experience of working with asylum seekers.

This team will provide care to the asylum seekers either on the vessel itself between the hours of 9am-5pm, or remotely (including outside of these hours).

Medical provision will include:

• a qualified senior health professional, such as an advanced nurse practitioner or a paramedic on site 5 days per week - 9am-5pm
• a GP onsite (one day per week) 9am-5pm
• remote access to GP consultations when onsite care is unavailable or needs additional support
• Outside of theses hours of operation Service Users can use 111 and 999 telephone services