As you prepare your application for the Home Office, you will not have an understanding of the family’s specific medical needs, but you don’t need to be a health expert to help the refugees you support navigate the healthcare system in the UK. At one point in our lives, we have all registered with a GP or seen a doctor and therefore have the knowledge it takes to help a newly arrived refugee do the same. However, as refugees often arrive with little documentation and will likely not speak English, it will be helpful to research how your local GP surgery will register the family.
All Groups who apply now will be welcoming families under the UKRS scheme, and many families may contain those who have medical needs.
When speaking to a GP surgery, explain a little about the project as they may not have worked with resettled refugees before. The following questions will help you get an idea of what it takes to register a newly arrived refugee in the local GP surgery and will help you answer questions 3.4h-j:
If you are applying for approval in principle and have yet to secure housing, you may not know which GP surgery will be closest or most convenient for the family you support.
However, most GP surgeries will have similar registration processes so simply contact the surgery in the area where the family you support is likely to live in order to demonstrate on your application that you understand what is needed.
3.4i. Is a further tick box answer and one of your sponsor obligations. If the GP practice does have a different system for registration which means you will not be able to register a family within one week of arrival, explain this here.
Explain here the steps you have taken to explore what dental health services are available locally, and what support there is for those needing support for their mental health, should this be required. You could consider asking:
Your Group may find it helpful to research different dental providers in your area in preparation for the refugee family’s arrival:
Whereas NHS doctors and hospitals have a duty and funding to provide interpreters, dentists and opticians do not so you should plan to have interpreters available for these appointments in order to ensure they have informed consent for procedures.
Consider other health related needs the family might have, such as a need for the opticians or family planning services.
Read all news and insight from our initiatives
See coverage of Reset UK in the press and media
Find out how Community Sponsorship helps refugee families in need build a new life in the UK with confidence and dignity.
How do I sponsor a refugee family? How does the process work? Reset is here to support you every step of the way.
We’ve designed toolkits to make it easy for you if you’re involved as a lead sponsor or a local authority.
Wherever you are on the fulfilling and thrilling journey through Community Sponsorship, we have training courses, videos, articles and more, all designed to help your group and the family you support.
From drop-in sessions to UK-wide networking events, we bring together people and professionals involved in all stages of the Community Sponsorship journey.
Make a direct difference in the world by getting involved with your nearest Community Sponsorship group – or starting one up yourself!
Make an extraordinary difference to the lives of people who have lost everything by signing up to our (free) Landlords for Refugees register.
Not everyone can donate their time, so if you are choosing to donate money today instead or as well as, thank you. Your generosity is vital to the work we do support community-led welcome of refugees.
Help others by sharing your account. Why were you attracted to community-led welcome? What worked, what did you learn, what has the experience been like for you?
Reset empowers volunteers to welcome refugees into communities across the UK. Find out about us and the kinds of programmes we’ve been involved with.
Research, monitoring and evaluation are essential for making evidence-based decisions that will support Community Sponsorship to grow and flourish.
Sponsoring a refugee family is a significant responsibility. We advocate for Community Sponsors to ensure that they are properly supported throughout their journey.
Our advocacy focuses on representing the views of Community Sponsors to the Home Office to support them in implementing the necessary operational changes.
We also represent the views of Community Sponsors to other key stakeholders, including Local Authorities, international organisations, the wider resettlement field, housing providers and financial institutions. We also use our voice to campaign on policies affecting refugees. We are members of the Together With Refugees coalition, campaigning for a more humane approach to people seeking protection in the UK.
