Today's story about a Teesside doctor's frustration at Government proposals to end free health care for failed asylum seekers makes for a disturbing read. Dr Paul Williams works at a practice specifically set up for refugees. As many as 45 of his patients are failed asylum seekers - which means the Home Office has refused their original pleas for refuge and that all appeals have been rejected. Whatever the rights and wrongs of their individual situations, the result for Dr Williams is that he may soon be prevented from treating anything but emergencies because of plans to stop funding routine NHS treatment for such cases. So worried is this GP that his concerns today make national headlines after they were published in The Lancet, a respected medical journal. If his fears are well-founded, it would mean men and women he is helping with post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety, diabetes and arthritis - to name just a few of the problems - would be left with no treatment. That would be ludicrous. The Government, of course, has to have a policy for dealing with asylum seekers, and this inevitably involves what to do with them if their applications fail. But surely this should be structured repatriation via the embassies of countries from which they came, ensuring that their health and well-being in the transitional period is maintained. There are claims that some asylum seekers only try to gain entry to Britain because they know we have good health care. Perhaps this is true in some circumstances. But does that mean that we are going to deny what should be considered human rights to people who are temporarily living within our borders? Is this the way a civilised country should act? We think not. The Evening Gazette today calls for an immediate statement from the Government on this affair, to reassure us that such drastic measures will not be introduced. Go ahead and develop your policies, Mr Blair, but ensure they are humane and efficient. That's what you were elected for. Click here to find out more on this story. | 
