Children held in UK detention centres being failed by system, says report

Children at Yarl’s Wood immigration centre are subject to a “symptomatic” failure to provide a standard of NHS care that any other child in the United Kingdom could expect, says a damning report by the Children’s Commissioner.

In the report, “The arrest and detention of children subject to immigration control,” Professor Al Aynsley-Green highlighted his concerns about “significant areas” of health care provided to 1000 children at Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire.

Professor Aynsley-Green’s report draws attention to four incidents that were recorded as leading to referrals to the emergency department at Bedford Hospital. Inspectors found that in one case there was an “unacceptably poor nurse consultation,” which compounded a …