The Home Office, UK Health Security Agency, Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England published a partnership agreement on 30 July 2026 covering health support for people seeking asylum in England.
On 30 July 2026 the four partners published the National partnership agreement on meeting the health and wellbeing needs for people seeking asylum in England 2025-2028, a policy paper that applies to England. It sets out the partnership between the Home Office, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England (NHSE).
The agreement covers health and wellbeing support in the community for people living in Home Office non-detained accommodation, including initial, contingency and dispersal accommodation. It is based on the earlier national partnership agreement for immigration removal centre (IRC) healthcare in England 2022 – 2025, and the paper says the two overlap to ensure continuity of care between community and detained settings.
The paper states that the partnership "does not symbolise any preferential treatment" and that healthcare in the UK is prioritised by public health and clinical need only.
It sets four core shared objectives and ten priorities for 2025 to 2028:
1. Baselining of physical and mental health needs 2. Public health interventions 3. Access to healthcare 4. Data flow (infrastructure) 5. Move on 6. Safeguarding adults and children 7. Suicide prevention 8. Data sharing (information) 9. System changes 10. Funding
The partners say they will endeavour to offer a healthcare assessment early in the asylum seeker's journey, aimed at identifying and managing initial health and wellbeing needs, including disease prevention and health protection interventions.
Delivery will follow a workplan that the four partners are committed to developing and agreeing. It will set out activities, projects, deliverables, measures, timelines and owners. The paper says some priorities may be interdependent and may depend on appropriate funding being available over the period.
For governance, the Strategic Senior Health Oversight Group (S-SHOG), currently co-chaired by the Home Office and DHSC, governs the overarching principles of the agreement and monitors progress. The Tactical Senior Health Oversight Group (T-SHOG), also currently co-chaired by the Home Office and DHSC, leads the activities in the workplan and reports to the S-SHOG. The paper lists scrutiny by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders & Immigration, the National Audit Office and Treasury, the Care Quality Commission, local authorities, the Home Affairs Committee and Healthwatch.
What this means for applicants
The paper describes how the four national bodies intend to work together on health and wellbeing support for people seeking asylum in England. The specific activities, measures and timelines are to be set out in the workplan, which the paper says is still to be agreed by all partners.
Sources
- National partnership agreement on asylum seeker health in England, GOV.UK, published 30 July 2026