The nexus of immigration regulation and health governance: a scoping review of the extent to which right to access healthcare by migrants, refugees and asylum seekers was upheld in the United Kingdom during COVID-19

Van Hout, MC ORCID: 0000-0002-0018-4060, Madroumi, R ORCID: 0009-0001-9002-5644, Andrews, MD, Arnold, R ORCID: 0000-0001-5383-4349, Hope, VD ORCID: 0000-0001-5712-5734 and Taegtmeyer, M ORCID: 0000-0002-5377-2536 (2024) The nexus of immigration regulation and health governance: a scoping review of the extent to which right to access healthcare by migrants, refugees and asylum seekers was upheld in the United Kingdom during COVID-19. Public Health, 232. pp. 21-29. ISSN 0033-3506

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Abstract

Objectives Complementing the well-established evidence base on health inequalities experienced by migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the UK; we examined the extent to which their right to equal non-discriminatory access to health services (promotive, preventive, curative) was upheld during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study design Arksey and O′Malley's scoping review framework. Methods A comprehensive search was conducted on Medline, PubMed, and CINAHL using detailed MESH terms, for literature published between 01 January 2020 and 01 January 2024. The process was supported by a ten-page Google search and hand searching of reference lists. 42 records meeting the inclusion criteria were charted, coded inductively and analysed thematically in an integrated team-based approach. Results Dissonance between immigration regulation and health governance is illustrated in four themes: Health systems leveraged to (re)enforce the hostile environment; Dissonance between health rights on paper and in practice; Structural failures to overcome communication and digital exclusion; and COVID-19 vaccine (in)equity exacerbated fear, mistrust and exclusion. Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers encountered substantial individual, structural and policy-level barriers to accessing healthcare in the UK during COVID-19. Insecure immigration status, institutional mistrust, data-sharing and charging fears, communication challenges and digital exclusion impacted heavily on their ability to access healthcare in an equitable non-discriminatory manner. Conclusions An inclusive and innovative health equity and rights-based responses reaching all migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are warranted if the National Health Service is to live up to its promise of ‘leaving no one behind’ in post-pandemic and future responses.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Divisions:	Public and Allied Health
Publisher:	Elsevier
Date of acceptance:	5 April 2024
Date of first compliant Open Access:	10 May 2024
Date Deposited:	10 May 2024 14:52
Last Modified:	03 Jul 2025 12:37
DOI or ID number:	10.1016/j.puhe.2024.04.012
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/23232

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