Health system ‘fails immigrants’

MAJOR improvements are needed in the healthcare facilities available to over 1,000 unaccompanied child asylum-seekers living in Ireland, a nursing expert said yesterday.

The annual conference of the Irish Association of Directors of Nursing and Midwifery, being held in Dublin, yesterday also heard warnings about possible racism among medical professionals.

Eilis Hayes, a paediatric clinical nurse specialist, said there was a need for the provision of better health screening facilities for asylum-seekers, especially for all child immigrants, who account for 24% of the refugee population in Ireland.

Such a screening service also needs to be supplemented by easy access to paediatric community doctors and nurses, she said.

The plight of asylum-seekers highlights deficiencies in the levels of cultural competency within the health system, according to Ms Hayes, who recently completed a year-long study on ethnic and cultural diversity among patients at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin. She also expressed concern about the attitude of some medical professionals towards asylum-seekers, based on the findings of her research.

“Unfortunately there exists evidence of prejudice, bias and racism towards individuals of culturally diverse backgrounds,” said Ms Hayes. While many healthcare workers surveyed had expressed an acceptance of a multicultural Ireland, she said it was evident from interviews that this was not the case in reality. As a result, she argued for the need to place racism prevention measures “high up on the agenda”. She also recommended that guidelines devised by the National Consultative Committee on Racism be made available to doctors and nurses.

“Myths need to be dispelled and inaccuracies clarified, as these assumption can only lead to further hostility and intolerance within our community and within our health service delivery,” said Ms Hayes. “RCombating racism is an issue that will need to be acknowledged and addressed in the delivery of health services, and should be included in as an integral component of any cultural competence programme.”