OVER THE YEARS WE HAVE often been told by continuous cruisers they have been refused to register with a doctor.
This is because they are unable to give an address.
Other continuous cruisers however had had no problem registering with different doctors when they explain their predicament.
Prevented from accessing a GP
Yet boat dweller and health worker Camille Tsang has been prevented from accessing a GP because she is unable to provide an address, due to living on a boat without a fixed permanent mooring.
She was registered at the GP near her work because it is not practical to have a GP anywhere else due to her way of life, travelling from one location to another mainly around the waterways of the South East.
Camille has worked in Colindale, North London, for over 10 years in public health. In September 2024, she was de-registered from her GP by her GP at Colindale Medical Centre, and has been fighting to get access to a GP ever since. She is unable to register with a GP, despite being British, permanently living in the UK, and being a UK taxpayer.
She complained to the government body that commissions NHS services including GPs in the area—the NHS North Central London Integrated Care Board (NCLICB)—in October 2024, but they haven't been able to solve the issue. After months of waiting, Camille then contacted the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to see if they could help. They informed her that they couldn't help with the case unless the NCLICB states the reasons for the refusal and closes the case. NCLICB refuses to provide written reasons or to close the case, and has spent months ignoring Camille's emails.
Over a year later still not registered
Camille next asked the local MP, David Pinto-Duschinsky, to help her. Pinto-Duschinsky got in touch with the NCLICB, but the NCLICB still hasn't closed the case citing delays from the GP practice. Over a year later Camille is still unable to access a GP to get any medical help, with Camille telling:
“This has been a stressful experience; I can't believe that I'm unable to get a GP. I know it's my right and I should be allowed to register with a GP. It's so frustrating; I think I have tried everything and I'm still without a GP. I am angry and deeply frustrated at how hard this process has been, I shouldn't have to go through this
"I have a connection to Colindale because I have worked here for over 10 years. If I try to get a GP anywhere else, I would be refused because I don't have a connection to the area."
"It's horrible knowing that if I need medical help from a GP such as a medical referral, I can't get it.”
The UK Health Security Agency, Unite the Union Colindale branch chair at Camille's workplace, Alan Darbin explained:
A right to health care
"Everyone in Britain has a right to health care. It's absolutely terrible that someone could be refused a GP. It's even more shocking that it is someone who works in health.
"Camille is well known at our workplace for helping others. Now we need to come together to help her get what we who live in houses take for granted."
Ian McDowell, National Secretary of the National Bargee Travellers Association (NBTA), an organisation that campaigns and supports boat dwellers without a permanent mooring, told:
"On the whole, our community has had a harder time when trying to access a GP. GPs have regularly refused travelling boat dwellers for not being able to provide an address.
"Not having a permanent address shouldn't be a reason to refuse to register a person. In the past, someone who was refused by a GP could go to NHS England and NHS England would tell the GP to register the boater, and the GP would comply. After the change in 2022, there seems to be no way to make GPs follow the national policy to allow people without addresses to register, instead creating a seemingly endless loop of whose job is it to enforce.
"Something needs to change. People who live and work in Britain, whoever they are, shouldn't be refused a GP!
"We demand that Colindale Medical Centre register Camille Tsang and ensure their internal processes allow people without addresses to be able to register."