While the number of patients attending Doctors of the World's clinic may have increased in the last 10 years, the types of problems they face are strikingly similar. Barriers to basic healthcare in the UK stubbornly persist – be those administrative and legal barriers, a lack of knowledge and understanding of the UK healthcare system, or fear of being arrested.

A report published in April by the charity exposed the fact that at least two in five vulnerable people are being wrongly refused GP registration, with the biggest barrier being people's inability to provide paperwork.

A sad situation

Doctors of the World's UK Programme Officer, Phil Murwill, began working for the charity three years ago and now helps to run the Bethnal Green clinic. He recalls one recent case which illustrates the impact that not accessing healthcare can have:

'We saw a man who was hearing voices; he'd heard them for years, and as a result his friends and family had abandoned him, calling him crazy. He'd been too scared to see a doctor about it.

'It was desperately sad. If he'd been able to access appropriate care in a more timely way, he could have been well supported and maintained his social network, but instead he saw his friends leave him one by one. We helped him to register with a GP, which we hope will be the first step on his road to recovery.'

Doctors of the World: removing barriers to healthcare

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Doctors of the World: removing barriers to healthcare