Network of Doctors who write Medico-Legal Reports on Asylum Seekers
In November 2007, at the 3rd National Conference for Doctors Working with Refugees and Asylum Seekers, doctors (mainly GPs) who write medico-legal reports for asylum applicants formed a national group (Register of Doctors Writing Medico-Legal Reports on Asylum Seekers) to provide training and support in this field. Formation of this network is one of the developments from this group.
Purpose of network
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to provide a discussion forum for issues arising from medico-legal report writing in asylum applications - from specific queries of a specialised nature, for example regarding patterns of scarring caused by torture, to broader questions concerning ethics of situations encountered
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to support doctors as they learn and develop skills in this field
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to circulate details of training available
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to share information and references
We consider that this network is important because the demand for good medical report writing for asylum cases is considerable, and despite the work of several report-writing organisations, many asylum cases are still being decided without medical reports, or without reports of suitable quality.
The Network of Doctors who write Medico-Legal Reports on Asylum Seekers has a private discussion forum here. Please note that, in order to access this forum, you must be a member of this network and also logged in to this site.
Useful documents
Writing Medico-legal Reports on Asylum Applicants - training session
Tuesday 7 July 2009 in Smethwick, Birmingham (whole day)
Course content will include speakers as follows:
- Bill Gale, UK Borders Agency: The Role of Medical Reports in Asylum Applications
- Margaret Finch, solicitor: Legal Aspects of MLR Writing
- Dr Laura Pugh: Basic "How-to" Guidelines for Writing Medico-legal Reports
- Dr Frank Arnold: Evaluating Scars of Torture
- Dr Alison Callaway: Writing MLRs on Tamil Asylum Speakers: Gaining In-Country Knowledge
There will be further additions to the programme including a speaker on writing reports on survivors of rape.
- Programme (Word, 30KB)
Network contact: Linda Agnew, lindaagnew@doctors.org.uk