Migrant barge: NHS already struggling in Portland, says councillor

The 222-bedroom, three-storey vessel will house about 500 migrants when it is in position in Portland Port

Health services are already "hanging on by a thread" in a town where 500 migrants will soon be housed on a barge, a councillor has warned.

The Bibby Stockholm is due to arrive in Portland, Dorset, next month where it will accommodate men who are claiming asylum in the UK.

Dorset councillor Jon Orrell said cuts had led to a shortage of NHS provision in the town which he feared would be blamed on the arrival of the barge.

NHS Dorset has been asked to comment.

Mr Orrell, a former GP, said the migrant barge would only create a "small amount of extra work" for GPs, adding: "The problem isn't the refugees, it's the already desperate understaffing.

"The danger is that people will blame the refugees for a crisis in the NHS that's not their fault."

The Bibby Stockholm has previously been used to house homeless people and asylum seekers in Germany and the Netherlands

The councillor, who represents Weymouth's Melcombe Regis ward, has put his concerns to the Dorset Integrated Care Board - NHS Dorset - ahead of a meeting on Thursday.

He said: "Weymouth and Portland once had four hospitals with wards full of beds. Now we have one with beds.

"We had eight GP surgeries, now we have six. Two of them hanging on by a thread with not enough doctors.

"Portland Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) is repeatedly closed."

He said the board could ask the Home Office to fund "an urgent restoration" of NHS services before sending the barge - reopening Portland Hospital beds and permanently reopening the MIU.

"To fail in these risks harming community cohesion," he said.

The councillor said agency staff "at premium rates" would be needed to run the services initially.

Earlier this month, Dorset Council announced it would not challenge the Home Office's decision to bring the 222-room, three-storey barge to Portland.

The council said it believed legal action would be unlikely to succeed and incur high costs for taxpayers.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We are continuing to work extremely closely with Dorset and Portland councils, as well as the local NHS and police services, to manage any impact in Portland and address the local communities' concerns, including through substantial financial support."