The Government’s policy towards asylum seekers and migrants is adding more strain to the NHS and resulting in homelessness, according to an expert.

Speaking at a meeting of Southwark Council’s health and wellbeing board, Sally Causer, executive director of Southwark Law Centre, said the root cause of homelessness in migrants and asylum seekers presenting at Kings College Hospital was lack of immigration status.

“The root causes of homelessness and destitution for many homeless patients is the lack of legal status in the UK and people and the agencies who support them are often unaware of the rights and the remedies,” she said.

“This leads to delays in discharge from hospital, and poor health outcomes.”

Ms Causer said lack of immigration status meant vulnerable asylum seekers and migrants could not work, could not rent accommodation in the private sector and had no access to benefits.

Many become destitute and fall into ill health without any support networks, friends or family, she said.

“As a case study: 21-year-old girl suffering from a blood disorder. She has got leave to remain in the UK but has a condition of no recourse to public funds, adding to stress, contributing to deteriorating health, meaning more drain on health resources,” she said.

She gave another example of an older man who has been in the UK since the late 1960s who was moving between temporary accommodation and the hospital because the Home Office had destroyed his file.

“He’s got complex health problems, including dementia, previous strokes, diabetes, two recent heart attacks, low mobility and he is a falls-risk. He has been living in hostel accommodation, which is dangerous because of his health.

“He was thought not to be eligible for support for accommodation because of his immigration status, so there has been a pattern of people being discharged from accommodation and then very quickly being readmitted to hospital.

“He was visited by officers who told him he had no lawful basis to be in the country.

“It turned out back in 1960s he had applied to the Home Office and he still had the letter going back to late 1960s, but we have managed to sort out his lawful residency meaning that he has now been assigned to a care home.”

She said migrant and asylum seekers who became pregnant were also negatively impacted, facing charges of between £4000 and £10,000 for NHS maternity services.

Ms Causer asked the board not to “look at effective pathways to do with barriers people face which might make them more of a drain on NHS resources.”