Helping someone who is homeless access healthcare
Updated September 2024
Tonight, thousands of people will sleep rough on the streets of England.
Experiencing homelessness can have a negative impact on both your physical and mental health, so it’s important that people are able to access support.
How can health and social care professionals help?
People who have faced homelessness have told their local Healthwatch that they can experience problems accessing services. If you work for an NHS or social care service, there are several steps you and your colleagues can take to help.
Enable people to register with their GP
People have told us that they have not been able to register with an NHS general practice because they don't have ID or a permanent address.
I was living in a tent and I needed ID proof of address, they wouldn’t let me register without.
If you work in a GP surgery, you can help by making colleagues aware of people’s rights.
NHS guidelines say that GP services cannot refuse to register someone because they are homeless, do not have proof of address or identification, or because of their immigration status.
GP surgeries can only refuse to register someone if they are already full or if the person is living outside the practice area – and they must explain this in writing.
The NHS has produced a leaflet that explains how to register with a GP and people's rights.
The legal duty to refer
Since October 2018, NHS accident and emergency services, urgent treatment centres and in-patient services have had a legal duty refer patients they consider may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to a local housing authority.
A referral, which must have the consent of a patient, then enables the relevant local authority housing authority to get in contact with the person concerned and undertake an assessment of their needs.
The Government have produced a guide to help services understand more about:
- what the duty to refer is
- how to identify when someone is threatened with homelessness, and
- what the procedures are for referring someone to a local authority.
Directing people to wider support
The support available in England to people who are homeless will depend on several factors but you can help people by directing them to your council housing service and local homeless services.
Connecting rough sleepers to local services
Streetlink is a service that helps to connect people sleeping rough to local services.
They can be contacted either by people sleeping rough or by anyone who is concerned on their behalf.
0300 500 0914
Make sure your health service has the knowledge you need
Health and care services across England have done work to improve the support they provide to those facing homelessness.
If you're a health professional, the first step you can take is to talk to your homeless service about any training or materials they can provide. You can also talk to us to find out more about what local people are telling us about their experiences.
There are also several free resources available on the internet that could help.
The Healthy London Partnership has produced a resource pack designed to educate NHS staff and signpost to a range of resources that can support their work with people who are homeless.
