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Vacancies at Medical Justice – a doctor and a psychologist

We have two exciting opportunities to join the Medical Justice team as soon as possible as a Clinical Assessor – Doctor, and as a Clinical Assessor – Psychologist.

Download the Job Description and Application Form for the roles below

Clinical Assessor – Doctor

Job Description
Application Form

Clinical Assessor – Psychologist

Job Description
Application Form

 

Clinical Assessor – Doctor
£11,560 per annum per day (for 1 to 4 days a week; £57,800 per annum pro-rata)

Clinical Assessor – Psychologist
£8,974 per annum per day (for 1 to 4 days a week; £44,872 per annum pro-rata)

Reports to: Clinical Advisor

Responsible for: Volunteer clinicians who may accompany your clinical assessments in a training/observer role

Job purpose: To carry out assessments for people detained in immigration removal centres (IRCs). To write Medico-legal reports in accordance with the Istanbul Protocol.

Working hours: 1 to 4 days a week depending on the candidate’s availability.

Where based: The post-holder will carry out work at Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) to visit people in detention, and may do some assessments remotely. They will write up their assessments remotely, or from the Medical Justice office in Finsbury Park. The post holder will be expected to attend occasional team meetings, trustees’ meetings, training events and other gatherings as required. Remote attendance at these is often possible.

Length of contract: Six months (we will consider a minimum of 3 months). Renewal may be possible based on project funding.

Terms: Pro rata 24 days per annum holiday, plus statutory bank holidays and 4 additional days’ holiday associated with bank holidays which may be decided on by your manager (usually associated with the office closure during Christmas and New Year).

Closing date: Tuesday 4th October 2022

Interviews: Monday 10th & Tuesday 11th October 2022

To apply: Please read the Job Description and complete the Application Form. Email your completed application form and your CV to Anthony at a.omar@medicaljustice.org.uk

 

Clinical Assessor – Doctor

Job Description
Application Form

Clinical Assessor – Psychologist

Job Description
Application Form

Basic Training Day For Clinicians

 

We are very pleased to announce details of our next Basic Training Day which will take place on Saturday the 12th of November. The training day will start from 10am and end at 5.30pm.

We are very excited to be able to offer this training in person in Central London. The training day is supported by self-study modules in the assessment of mental health and scarring which we recommend those new to this field complete in advance of the day (approx 4 hours).

Our Basic Training Day is for doctors and psychologists who are interested in volunteering for Medical Justice as medico-legal report writers, visiting detained people in detention centres or conducting remote assessments, assessing their health and documenting clinical evidence of torture and other health issues.

The aim of this course is to gain an understanding of the health and legal needs of asylum seekers and other immigration detainees. The skills learnt will focus on assessing persons detained under immigration powers, as well as medico-legal report writing

The training covers the relevant legal processes, assessing scarring and mental health and report writing skills.

Requirements from Doctors:

  • ST4 or above, or with equivalent clinical experience (i.e. completed 5 years’ post-qualification)
  • Full registration from the GMC with a licence to practice
  • Indemnity insurance
  • Clinical experience at ST1 level or above with adults or adolescents age 16 or over within the last 3 years. This may include clinical experience with adults in non-NHS or overseas settings.

Requirements from Clinical Psychologists:

  • At least two years’ post-doctorate experience (or relevant extensive experience in a specialist refugee or trauma service)
  • Professional registration with the HCPC
  • Indemnity insurance
  • Clinical experience with adults or adolescents age 16 or over within the last 3 years (slightly less recent experience may be acceptable if extensive).

 

Participation fees

On request, fees are reimbursed after the doctor has written an MLR for a Medical Justice referral

 

£120 – Consultant/GP

£80 – Trainee doctors (ST4 onwards) and psychologists

Free – Medical Justice volunteer (carried out one detention visit in last 12 months)

 

Note: please tell us if you would have difficulties paying a fee – we can help.

How to apply

Please follow link below and provide the information requested and we will be in touch once your details have been reviewed by our Clinical Advisors.

If you have any questions, please contact Anthony on a.omar@medicaljustice.org.uk

Submit Registration Details

 

Medical Justice is a small charity that sends volunteer clinicians into the UK’s 7 IRCs to visit men and women detained arbitrarily and indefinitely. We assist about 1,000 detainees a year, most of whom are asylum seekers, and most are later released. Our volunteer doctors write medico-legal reports (MLRs) documenting the scars and mental health consequences of torture, identify unmet health needs and challenge instances of inadequate healthcare provision. We are the only charitable organisation in the UK that does this. Our training is therefore unique and provided by experienced doctors in the field.

Who’s Paying The Price? – Report Released

The Human Cost Of The Rwanda Scheme

Read the report here >> 

 

Medical evidence emerges of the harm inflicted on those targeted by UK government for removal to Rwanda

Medical Justice today publishes “Who’s Paying The Price?: The Human Cost Of The Rwanda Scheme”, a comprehensive analysis of people targeted for removal to Rwanda which details medical evidence of the harm inflicted on them. The policy is damaging in general for anyone, acutely so for such vulnerable torture and trafficking survivors who are already paying a high human cost even before any flights have taken off to Rwanda.

The UK Government has entered a cruel and unconscionable agreement, which will forcibly remove people who have come to the UK seeking safety to Rwanda, with no return to the UK. It has been widely condemned by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, parliamentary committees, as well as the medical community. It is being judicially reviewed in the High Court, with hearings starting on Monday 5th September 2022, the day the new Prime Minister will be announced. Both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have promised more Rwanda-style deals.

The first removal flight to Rwanda was halted. Yet the health and wellbeing of those targeted has already been severely impacted.

“Our clinicians have described the severe impact of the threat of removal to Rwanda on mental health: Experiences of intense fear, anxiety about the future, profound loss of hope, and traumatic reminders of past experiences of powerlessness deprive people of the sense of safety required for careful assessment and recovery. These experiences would be harmful in general, but are made even more acute by their being experienced within immigration detention and by a population with a high rate of vulnerability. 

Our report shows extremely high rates of evidence of torture, trafficking and other vulnerabilities in this group, to whom the government plan to deny assessment or interview before they are forcibly removed. The policy knowingly places people in an extremely damaging situation and should be considered exceptionally harmful. 

As a doctor, what shocks me most is the total disregard for the need to assess the risks of subjecting individual people to this policy. “

Dr Rachel Bingham – Clinical Advisor for Medical Justice

 

“Medical Justice calls for the immediate and urgent release from indefinite immigration detention of all those targeted with removal for Rwanda, and for the policy to be abandoned.  To not do so, given the medical evidence, means the harm the government is inflicting is premeditated.”

Emma Ginn – Director, Medical Justice

51 people in immigration detention targeted for removal to Rwanda have contacted Medical Justice – detail on 36 of whom is provided in the “Who’s Paying The Price?” report, including Iranian (14), Iraqi (5), Sudanese (5), Syrian (4), Eritrean (3), Vietnamese (2), Egyptian (2), and one Albanian nationals. This report shines a light on the accelerated and unclear process they have been subjected to, plagued by procedural deficiencies, a lack of legal advice and a lack of translated documents. They include men, women, aged-disputed children or young people, people with mental health conditions, and people who have self-harmed and/or have suicidal ideation in detention. They have all come to the UK seeking safety, many also to join family here. There is no specific screening process, despite the government implicitly acknowledging that removal would not be safe or appropriate for all. Where vulnerabilities are belatedly identified, the Home Office justifies continued detention on the basis of potential removal to Rwanda.

Our evidence shows that the prospect of removal to Rwanda is in itself damaging; it is exacerbating detained people’s mental health conditions (including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)), causing them to experience fear, confusion, uncertainty about their safety, and a loss of hope. For some, it has increased their risk of self-harm and suicide. For some, it has reduced resilience to the psychological effects of trauma and may interfere with their ability to engage with treatment.

The harms described were experienced by individuals irrespective of whatever situation they would have encountered in Rwanda, and indeed despite their removal not having gone ahead.

Out of 17 people Medical Justice doctors have conducted clinical assessments for, 14 had evidence of torture histories and 6 have indicators of trafficking. 15 had a diagnosis or symptoms of PTSD. One is likely to have a psychotic disorder and lack capacity to even instruct his solicitor. One requires urgent investigations to rule out recurrence of a previous brain tumour. 11 people had suicidal thoughts in detention, including one who attempted suicide twice. Some were clinically considered to be at high risk of suicide if threatened with removal Rwanda.

Following each assessments the Medical Justice clinician shared their concerns, including about the risks of continued detention, with the immigration removal centre healthcare team.

Interviews

Interviews with a Medical Justice doctors and client target for removal to Rwanda are potentially possible.

Contact

Emma Ginn on 07786 517379 / emma.ginn@medicaljustice.org.uk

Web

http://www.medicaljustice.org.uk/

Medical Justice Annual Report 2021/22

1st February 2021 – 31st January 2022

Download the Annual Report

 

“I am really excited and honoured to have been appointed vice chair of Medical Justice and to be a part of this great team that is literally saving and transforming lives in immigration detention. I look forward to using my skills and experience to increase the visibility of the great work we do and to offer strategic direction that reflects the needs of our detained clients.

I commend Medical Justice for having the foresight and vision to include people with lived experiences in their board of trustees, as I believe this is vital to the success, relevance and sustainability of Medical Justice. As a beneficiary of this policy, it has been great to use my lived experience of detention.”

Bridget Banda – Vice-Chair

 

Some topics covered in this annual report ;

  • Acting as a Core Participant in the Brook House Inquiry – The Inquiry’s clinical expert accepted a causal link between the failure to identify and release highly vulnerable individuals leading to their mistreatment.
  • The All-Party Parliamentary Group’s inquiry into quasi-detention – “What we have heard so far is incredibly worrying. None of this cruelty is happening by accident.” Alison Thewliss MP, APPG chair
  • Campaigning against the 9 planned Accommodation Centres for 8,000 asylum seekers
  • In spring 2021 we worked with a number of people who were not detained but nevertheless being held at Tinsley House, usually an Immigration Removal Centre. Clare Jennings of Matthew Gold & Co. Solicitors ; “They felt like they were in prison because that’s exactly where they were”.
  • There was a sudden sharp increase in referrals from May 2021 onwards as the Home Office started detaining large numbers of people who arrived in the UK by small boats. The majority were Vietnamese nationals. Many reported histories of trafficking over several months spanning many countries, only interrupted by being intercepted by Border Force while crossing the channel. Of 60 Vietnamese clients, 56 had eventually been released – but, to our great concern, 55 then disappeared, feared re-trafficked, including an age disputed young person, who reported being 15 years old.
  • During the summer of 2021 charter flight operations increased and we saw many people detained for mass deportations on charter flights to countries including Vietnam, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. They included people with serious health problems and many who had lived in the UK for several decades.
  • People detained in prisons under immigration powers (including torture survivors and those with serious vulnerabilities) were locked in their cells for over 22 hours a day, with people sometimes being held in their cells for days at a time. Some self-harmed, attempted suicide and had difficulty sleeping or eating. Some who did not have any previous mental health problems eventually left detention with a mental illness. The government suggests that the use of solitary confinement is a public health response to COVID-19. However, this cannot be justified; prolonged solitary confinement is a practice that has been prohibited internationally by the UN’s ‘Mandela Rules’.

 

We know the Medical Justice model works; assisting individuals and using our medical evidence to secure systemic change. Tens of thousands of people subject to immigration control have benefitted from our policy work and litigation. Meanwhile, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Immigration Detention, for which Medical Justice provides the secretariat, engages with non-governmental organisations and others with personal experience and expertise, amplifying our collective impact. Medical Justice is increasingly being a force for good way beyond its own direct client base.

An independent evaluation in 2021 noted: those who know Medical Justice “feel it has strong characteristics and a highly respected reputation. It is regarded as principled, expert and evidence- based, tenacious in its casework and policy work, fierce and ferocious when needed and brave in the way it speaks truth to power.”

Thank you to our incredible staff, our volunteers, our funders, our partner organisations, and to our inspirational and brave clients.

 

Download the Annual Report

Medical Justice oral and written evidence about the Rwanda policy for the Home Affairs Committee

The House of Commons’ Home Affairs Committee is running an inquiry looking at the latest developments in Government policy on migration and asylum.

In June 2022, Medical Justice submitted written evidence to the inquiry in relation to the Rwanda policy. Using anonymised data gathered from Medical Justice clients, the submission highlighted the distressing psychological impacts experienced by those facing removal under the policy, and deeply flawed Home Office processes to which they were subjected.

Read our submission here.

In July 2022 our Casework Manager, Theresa Schleicher, gave further oral evidence to the Committee during a session on the Rwanda policy.

Watch the evidence session here, or read a transcript here.

Theresa Schleicher from Medical Justice gives oral evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC)

WATCH HERE – 6th July 2022 – 9.45am

Questioned on Rwanda scheme : Medical Justice, Asylum Aid, the Refugee Council, the Institute for Government and ex-Director Generals at the Home Office

The Home Affairs Committee examines the implementation of the Rwanda asylum agreement on Wednesday 6 July when it takes evidence from refugee charities and former heads of UK Border Force and Immigration Enforcement.

Under the agreement with Rwanda, anyone who has entered the UK irregularly since 1 January 2022 will be considered for relocation. Claimants whose asylum applications are rejected will stay in Rwanda or return to their country of origin. Successful asylum applicants will also stay in Rwanda – there is no circumstance where an applicant will be returned to the UK. All individuals on the first scheduled flight were removed before take off following legal action. The Government has stated it will continue to plan future flights.

 

Purpose of session

In this session the Committee will hear from charities supporting refugees identified as being eligible for the Rwanda relocation scheme. It will examine their concerns about the policy and the process for notifying those subject to removal. It will also examine how decisions are appealed and what legal support is available.

The Committee will then take evidence from former Director Generals at UK Border Force and Immigration Enforcement, and an Institute for Government academic, on how immigration policy is, and should be, developed. This will include how the Rwanda policy relates to the UK’s broader refugee strategy and attempts to reach agreement with other nations, particularly in the EU. It will also consider the effectiveness of the Rwanda agreement as a deterrent for people smuggling and the challenge of disrupting criminal gangs.

 

Witnesses

Panel 1

  • Enver Solomon, Executive Director, Refugee Council
  • Theresa Schleicher, Casework Manager, Medical Justice
  • Alison Pickup, Director, Asylum Aid

Panel 2

  • Tony Smith CBE, ex-Director General, UK Border Force
    (10.45am-11.10am)
  • David Wood, ex-Director General, Immigration Enforcement
    (11.10-11.40am)
  • Rhys Clyne, Senior Researcher, Institute for Government
    (10.45am-11.45am)

What next for asylum seekers in the UK? Resisting the Nationality & Borders Act

MSF UK & THE TAKE ACTION GROUP PRESENT

What next for asylum seekers in the UK? Resisting the Nationality & Borders Act

 

Through extraordinarily hard work, refugee advocates and ‘activist lawyers’ managed to stop the first flight to Rwanda taking place. But this is only a temporary reprieve – the government will continue to try to send people overseas. The so called ‘Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda’ is only the highest profile initiative. The Nationality and Borders Act has brought many more changes to the way asylum seekers and refugees will be treated in the UK.

This online event, presented by MSF UK and The Take Action Group, will host speakers at the forefront of pushing back on these policies and changes to talk about what they are likely to mean in practice, and to reflect on what we can all do to fight for refugee rights.

Thursday 23 June, 19:00 – 20:30

REGISTER HERE

 

Speakers include:

Dr. Liz Clark, Clinical Advisor at Medical Justice, which works to uphold the health and associated legal rights of people in immigration detention and provides medical evidence, so the devastating health harms of detention are understood and acted on.  Medical Justice has been providing medical assessments and care to some of the men in detention served with notices of intent to be removed to Rwanda.  Liz is a GP and has been carrying out clinical assessments and writing medico-legal reports for asylum seekers for over 10 years with Medical Justice and Freedom from Torture. She has also worked as a medical manager for MSF working with survivors of violence, sexual violence and torture in Greece, Lebanon and Egypt.

Clare Moseley, Founder and Head of Care4Calais, supporting migrants and asylum-seekers in Napier Barracks and asylum accommodation. Care4Calais challenged the Government’s proposals to forcibly remove people seeking UK to Rwanda in court, alongside the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and Detention Action.

Nadine Tunasi is an expert by experience, a leading member of the Survivors Speak OUT network & a Survivor Champion for the FCDO’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative. She advocates against harmful asylum and immigration policies, fighting for the adoption of positive policies for people navigating the asylum and immigration system.  She has contributed to several research projects including Freedom from Torture’s ‘Beyond Belief’ report which calls for fundamental culture change at the Home Office.  Nadine is also a writer and uses her writing to express the difficulties that asylum seekers and refugees encounter.  One of her poems, ‘My Hands’, was interpreted in music by the distinguished composer Kate Whitley, performed at the Aldeburgh Festival.  Recently, Nadine has been an expert working to develop the ‘stigma toolkit project’ for Synergy for Justice, and as  a survivor legal expert drafting a chapter in ‘Access to Justice: A  Pathway for survivors seeking Justice’.

Duncan Lewis Solicitors is a leading public law team, which has been fearless in holding the government to account, representing a range of organisations in challenging the legality of removals to Rwanda and lack of meaningful access to legal support for women in detention, among other cases.

Please join us for an evening of fascinating discussion during Refugee Week on Thursday 23 June, 19.00 – 20.30 – remember to register here!

 

Torture victims amongst our 26 detained clients still under threat of removal to Rwanda

Medical Justice is indescribably relieved that our clients were taken off the plane to Rwanda last night.

Medical Justice has 26 clients in detention with Notices of Intent to remove to Rwanda. 11 were issued with Removal Directions for yesterday’s fight. Over the last few days, many of these Removal Directions were cancelled. 3 clients were amongst the 7 people taken to the plane for Rwanda. They were all later taken off the flight and taken back to immigration detention.

We are immensely grateful to our outstanding casework team and our dedicated volunteer clinicians who carried out medical assessments for our clients and wrote medico-legal reports which were then used by our clients brilliant legal representatives.

Dr Rachel Bingham of Medical Justice explains to Australia’s ABC News expresses concerns about current mental health and histories of torture of our 26 detained clients still under threat of removal to Rwanda

 

Watch the ABC News clip

 

Listen to the ABC News radio piece

 

Online Basic Training Day For Clinicians

 

We are very pleased to announce details of our next Basic Training Day which will take place online on Thursday the 7th of July. The training day will start from 9.50am and end at 3.10pm.

The day will take place online via Zoom and is supported by self-study modules in the assessment of mental health and scarring which we recommend those new to this field complete in advance of the day (approx 4 hours).

Our Basic Training Day is for doctors and psychologists who are interested in volunteering for Medical Justice as medico-legal report writers, visiting detainees in detention centres or conducting remote assessments, assessing their health and documenting clinical evidence of torture and other health issues.

The aim of this course is to gain an understanding of the health and legal needs of asylum seekers and other immigration detainees. The skills learnt will focus on assessing persons detained under immigration powers, as well as medico-legal report writing

The training covers the relevant legal processes, assessing scarring and mental health and report writing skills.

Requirements from Doctors:

  • ST4 or above, or with equivalent clinical experience (i.e. completed 5 years’ post-qualification)
  • Full registration from the GMC with a licence to practice
  • Indemnity insurance
  • Clinical experience at ST1 level or above with adults or adolescents age 16 or over within the last 3 years. This may include clinical experience with adults in non-NHS or overseas settings.

Requirements from Clinical Psychologists:

  • At least two years’ post-doctorate experience (or relevant extensive experience in a specialist refugee or trauma service)
  • Professional registration with the HCPC
  • Indemnity insurance
  • Clinical experience with adults or adolescents age 16 or over within the last 3 years (slightly less recent experience may be acceptable if extensive).

 

Participation fees

On request, fees are reimbursed after the doctor has written an MLR for a Medical Justice referral

 

£80 – Consultant/GP

£60 – Trainee doctors (ST4 onwards) and psychologists

Free – Medical Justice volunteer (carried out one detention visit in last 12 months)

 

Note: please tell us if you would have difficulties paying a fee – we can help.

How to apply

Please follow link below and provide the information requested and we will be in touch once your details have been reviewed by our Clinical Advisors.

If you have any questions, please contact Anthony on a.omar@medicaljustice.org.uk

Submit Registration Details

 

Medical Justice is a small charity that sends volunteer clinicians into the UK’s 7 IRCs to visit men and women detained arbitrarily and indefinitely. We assist about 1,000 detainees a year, most of whom are asylum seekers, and most are later released. Our volunteer doctors write medico-legal reports (MLRs) documenting the scars and mental health consequences of torture, identify unmet health needs and challenge instances of inadequate healthcare provision. We are the only charitable organisation in the UK that does this. Our training is therefore unique and provided by experienced doctors in the field.

APPG Chair criticises Rwanda plan and new asylum centre

The Chair of the APPG on Immigration Detention, Alison Thewliss MP spoke out last week against the Home Secretary’s recent Rwanda asylum deal and plans to open a new asylum accommodation centre in North Yorkshire, modelled on the infamous site at Napier Barracks in Kent.

In a statement issued last week, Ms Thewliss said:

“The plans introduced by the UK government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda from Britain are utterly appalling.

“The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has already condemned these plans on ethical and legal grounds, while senior Home Office officials say there’s no evidence the arrangement will provide value for money. There are serious questions of transparency and how the Home Office can ever be held to account for what happens to the individuals it sends to Rwanda. But this is just another example of the Government abandoning its responsibility to offer sanctuary and support to those fleeing persecution.

“My recent visit to Napier Barracks allowed me to see first-hand how profoundly unsuitable and dehumanising such sites are for asylum seekers. The dilapidated former barracks used by the Government to house asylum seekers are inadequate, lacking in facilities and people there struggle to get access to lawyers and adequate healthcare. It is frightening to imagine what a facility located in another country thousands of miles away from scrutiny will be like.

“I would have hoped that the Tory Government would learn from the comments made after our visit. Yet despite the warnings given to them about the conditions in Napier, the government is proceeding with plans at Linton-on-Ouse. With other members of the APPG, I have repeatedly called for Napier Barracks to close and for the UK government not to open any further similar sites. I reiterate that call today.

“It is time for the government to get a grip and stop with these tactics to divert the attention away from the chaos within this Government. Thousands of human lives are at risk here, they must be protected. During the worst cost of living crisis to date, the Government should be focusing on allowing all people to have enough money to feed themselves, rather than pandering to the dog whistle politics of the far right.”

Ms Thewliss also raised these issues in a Commons debate – describing the Rwanda plan as “despicable”, and Napier as “not fit for purpose”:  “it is cold, bleak and lacking in dignity and privacy, Vulnerable people struggle to get medical, social and legal support”.

You can watch her full contribution in the chamber along with the Home Secretary’s response here, or read the transcript here.

 

Media coverage

Daily Record | 18 Apr 2022
UK’s Rwanda refugee plan is obscene, do not allow this to happen in our name