Government faces legal challenge over data agreement that may put “migrants at risk”

A charity has launched a legal challenge to the data sharing agreement between the Home Office, Department of Health, and the NHS, which it says puts immigrants’ healthcare at risk by deterring them from seeking care.

The agreement, signed in January, enables the Home Office to access data such as a patient’s home address. The Migrants’ Rights Network says that the agreement was written in secret, without consultation with NHS staff, medical organisations, or the public.

The network says that the agreement …