Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Detention Services Order 01/2016 on The Protection, Use and Sharing of Medical Information Relating to People Detained Under Immigration Powers, whether his Department has shared medical files of detained persons with foreign Governments since 2016.

Detention Services Order (DSO) 01/2016 sets out the Home Office’s policy on the protection, use and sharing of detainees’ medical information. As set out in this DSO the medical record is a confidential document and is the property of the detainee.

In the case of an unescorted removal, the medical record is handed over to the detainee at the point of boarding the aircraft. During an escorted removal, the escort staff will hold the record until the end of the escort, when it is given over to the detainee before they are received by their own authorities. If the detainee does not want the record, the escort staff will return it to the UK where it will be securely stored.