A Leicester woman awaiting spinal surgery fears imminent removal from the UK to Sudan after a medical practitioner has, without examining her, advised that she is fit to fly.
Dr John W. Keen supplies fast-turnaround medical assessments to the Home Office, and to local authorities through his company NowMedical. Some of his assessments have attracted heavy criticism in the courts. Last year, in a case concerning an autistic child’s risk of falling from a council flat balcony, the judge criticised Dr Keen who had advised that a fall was “unlikely to be fatal”.
The Leicester woman under threat of deportation is 55 years old. She fled Sudan fearing persecution for her Bahai faith, and came to the UK seven years ago. Her claim for asylum was refused.
The woman’s family doctor told the Home Office that she has multiple health problems including Type 2 diabetes. She is awaiting spinal surgery, suffers from “spondylolisthesis, sciatica, lumbar spinal stenosis” and takes the prescription drugs co-codomal and pregabalin. Leicester GP Dr Hafiz Mukadam added that his patient “Struggles to sit for prolonged periods as exacerbates back and leg pain.”
The Home Office is preparing to deport her to Sudan, a journey involving flights of 10 to 15 hours’ duration, and obtained advice from Dr John W. Keen, asking him: “Could you assess her fitness to fly, please?”
Comments
We encourage anyone to comment, please consult the oD commenting guidelines if you have any questions.