IJPDS International Journal of Population Data Science IJPDS 2399-4908 Swansea University 10.23889/ijpds.v10i3.3259 10:3:224 Planned and emergency hospital admissions of 1.2 million adult non-EU migrants and refugees in England Burns Rachel 1 Wyke Sacha 2 Boukari Yamina 3 Eyre Max T 4 Nyguyen Vincent 5 Pathak Neha 6 Lewis Kate M 5 Stevenson Kerrie 5 Hiam Lucinda 3 Zenner Dominic 7 Campos-Matos Ines 8 Harron Katie 5 Aldridge Robert W 9 Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom University College London, London, United Kingdom Queen Mary University, London, United Kingdom Office of Health and Improvement, Department of Health and Social Care, London, United Kingdom University of Washington Seattle, Seattle, USA 01 06 2025 2025 8 4 3259 This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This article is available from the IJPDS website at: https://ijpds.org/article/view/3259 Objective

Utilisation of health services is an important indicator of migrants’ access to healthcare, but there is little and mixed evidence on access to and use of secondary care by migrants living in England. Understanding migrant healthcare utilisation by visa type and region of origin will help identify important trends and inequities.

 Method

A linked retrospective longitudinal cohort was used to estimate patterns of hospital admission rates for over 1.2 million adult non-EU migrants and resettled refugees compared to the general population in England between April 1, 2007, through March 23, 2020. Negative binomial regression models were fitted to model associations between visa type and region of origin and the risk of emergency and planned hospital admissions.

 Results

Emergency and planned hospital admissions were lower for almost all migrant sub-groups compared to the general population in England, particularly for those on student, work, and working holiday visas. For less than 3% of the migrant cohort, higher planned admissions for male refugees (IRR 2.28; 95% CI 1.38-3.78) and higher emergency admissions for female refugees (IRR 1.71, 95% CI 1.28-2.28) and family visa holders (IRR 1.28, 95% CI 1.05-1.57) were identified.

 Conclusion

Most migrant groups have a lower usage of NHS emergency and planned secondary care services than the general population in England, though differences by visa type and region of origin exist.