Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reform access to healthcare for homeless people.
The Scottish Government is committed to understanding the health inequalities faced by people experiencing homelessness, and improving the way health and housing services work together to promote an integrated and holistic model of care.
GP registration is the main way to gain access to the vast majority of NHS healthcare services. The Scottish Government published patient registration guidance in September 2018 clarifying that patients do not require proof of identity or address to register with a general practice. The inability by a patient to provide identification or proof of address is not considered reasonable grounds to refuse or delay registering a patient.
We know that poor health is both a cause and a consequence of homelessness and that is why homelessness must be seen as both a housing and a health matter. In recognition of the need for collective responsibility across public services to prevent homelessness, we are consulting on plans to introduce new homelessness prevention duties, including on public bodies in health and social care, to ask about a person’s housing circumstances and act where a problem is identified.