Rising homelessness is public health emergency, say doctors

Doctors have expressed serious concern at increases in homelessness in the UK and the consequent harm to health, urging governments to fund better access to healthcare for homeless people.

The BMA’s annual representative meeting in Belfast on 26 June unanimously passed an unopposed motion calling for action.

David Clayton, a final year medical student at Glasgow University and co-chair of BMA Scotland’s medical students committee, who proposed the motion, said, “Homelessness should not exist in this country but, as long as it does, homeless patients deserve inclusion in our system with effective, integrated, and dignified care.”

He said that homeless people are too often excluded from primary care services because they have no fixed abode. He argued that disparate services practise crisis management, meaning that patients fall through the gaps.

“The crux is that homelessness itself is a symptom of public health cuts, crippling austerity, and a social housing crisis . . . decisions that have manufactured stark inequality,” he said.

The charity Shelter reported in 2018 that the UK had 320 000 homeless people, an increase of 13 000 from the year before, said Clayton. Life expectancy is 47 among homeless men and 43 among homeless women.

He added, “With A&E attendances trebling since 2011, and deaths doubling in the past five years, the BMA has a duty to be at the forefront of tackling this public health emergency.”

The motion called on medical schools to teach about the topic, for NHS bodies to explore integrated models of healthcare for homeless people, and for governments to ensure that no prisoners are released into homelessness.

Delegates overwhelmingly agreed with a separate motion proposed by Amanda Owen, a retired psychiatrist from the Tower Hamlets division, that “everyone has the right to a decent, affordable home” and that all political parties should commit to investing in publicly built housing.