Publish date: 26 March 2025
Trust clinicians, Helen Lashwood, Foundation Year 2 Doctor, Mark Toynbee, Consultant Psychiatrist, and Bradley Hillier, Honorary Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist, teamed up with Dr Derek Tracy when he was Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at West London NHS Trust, (currently CMO at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust) to conduct a study on the proportion of asylum seekers on the caseload of the Hounslow Crisis Assessment and Home Treatment Team (HCAHTT) in London, between 1 April and 30 September 2023. The team serves an area with a high concentration of contingency hotels, and the researchers wanted to briefly explore the care needs of this population.
The study, titled ‘Impact of the increased asylum seeker population on a UK mental health crisis service,’ was recently published in BJPsych International.
Dr Toynbee said “Hounslow has the second highest population of asylum seekers housed in contingency hotels in London, and rates of trauma and severe mental illness in the asylum seeker population are known to be high. Understanding the specific local need helps us improve the services we can offer to ultimately provide the best possible care.”
In March 2023, 69% of asylum seekers in the London Borough of Hounslow were housed in contingency hotels while awaiting the outcome of their asylum claim.
In the same month, Hounslow was the borough with the second highest number of asylum seekers accommodated in hotels in London.
Among other things, the study found that asylum seekers housed in Hounslow are not over-represented on the HCAHTT caseload compared with the general population. They however present with high rates of trauma and experience disruptions in the continuity of their care due to the asylum accommodation process.
You can read the full findings of the study by visiting the BJPsych International journal webpage.