[Medical care for asylum seekers and refugees at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf--A case series]

Abstract

As the number of refugees rises, medical care for refugees, asylum seekers and people with unclear residence status becomes a priority task for our health system. While access to health care is restricted for these groups of people in many German states, Hamburg provides unrestricted access to healthcare for refugees by handing out health insurance cards on arrival. Daily practice shows, however, that adequate medical care is still not always easy to achieve. In this case series we demonstrate that barriers to health care still exist on many levels. We discuss these barriers and further propose strategies to improve and to secure access to adequate health care.