Furious residents and patients in Halton told the Daily Express how British taxpayers are being “pushed to the back of the queue”, with pampered asylum seekers enjoying home health visits.

It comes as the Express exposes how millions of pounds in taxpayers’ cash is being spent on “at home” medical assessments on migrants.

Based in leafy Cheshire, the Borough of Halton includes both the socially deprived town of Runcorn and also Widnes – which boasts the lowest average wages in the whole county.

With the most COMAH (Control of Major Accident Hazards) zones – areas around chemical plants where new house building is heavily restricted – in Britain, Runcorn was the perfect place to send unwanted asylum seekers.

But local residents struggling to pay their bills and access GP services have reacted in anger to discover that asylum seekers are not only being housed in relative hotel comfort, but are getting home visits from doctors.

The Daily Express spoke to patients at a number of GP practises in the borough about the £132,000 ‘at home’ health contract revelations.

At Grove House surgery, in Runcorn town centre, patients Kath and Mike Hague were full of praise for the service they got from local GPs but Mike, 69, was opposed to the contract: “We are stretched enough.

“I don’t agree with it. We get nothing back from these asylum seekers. Charity starts at home is an old saying but it’s a true one. We need to look after our own.

“I’m sure the vast majority of asylum seekers are genuine people coming from a much worse place but I think the country is already doing far too much and our GPs are overstretched.”

Unimpressed pensioner Paul Martin, 76, told how he cares for his housebound wife, also aged 76, adding: “It seems to me we’re getting pushed to the back of the queue.

“It’s not easy to get a doctors’ appointment here, and my wife and I are certainly struggling to get dental care. All these hotels are full of asylum seekers. We don’t feel the Government is doing enough to deal with the problem.”

While grandmother Sylvia Ford, 80, had to wait a month for her latest appointment, saying: “It isn’t easy for those who live here to get seen and there are already people who live here not getting the treatment they need.

“I’ve had to wait four weeks for today’s appointment. I imagine this contract will just make things worse. The asylum seekers are always complaining but they shouldn’t be here in the first place.”

The Brookvale GP Practice is based in Hallwood Health Centre, alongside Weaver Vale Surgery. Retired tiler Jack Jones, 80, a patient at the centre there, said: “Someone needs to wake up and sort out the NHS .

“They can’t even help the people already on their books! First there was Covid, now it’s asylum seekers. We are being thrown under a bus.

“They tell us there is no money but then they spend thousands on these asylum seekers. Don’t get me wrong, I do feel sorry for them and I’m not biased against them personally but I believe we should look after British people first.

“The government needs to get its priorities right. If I was 21 again I’d be selling up and moving to another country.

“These foreigners have not put a penny into the system whereas I’ve paid my taxes all my life.”

A 46 year-old mother of one, who refused to give her name, said she had no problem getting an appointment at Brookvale, adding: “I don’t have an issue with asylum seekers getting health care provided it doesn’t impact existing patients.

“But if other people are missing out as a result then it’s unfair. And if GPs are getting the £132,000 then maybe they will make the asylum seekers a priority.

“I don’t struggle to get an appointment here at the moment but I’d be very unhappy if that changed.”

Once a string of hotels in the area was housing asylum seekers and migrants but they have dramatically been reduced and returned to normal public hospitality again.

Migrants are believed to have been mainly put up in houses in Halton and Runcorn. The nearby Daresbury Park Hotel has been closed to the public while it houses migrants.

One migrant was seen playing football in the hotel grounds.

However most were just seen in the foyer of the hotel which is on the outskirts of an industrial estate and right by the M56 motorway.

Other residents across the town reacted with shock at the ‘at home’ health contract revelations.

Mother-of-two Sian Williams, 42, said: “It’s outrageous if they are getting special treatment. My mum had to wait eight hours to be see by a doctor in hospital the other week. The government needs to sort out the migrant mess “

Most Popular Comments

“They only seem to send them to poorer parts of the country – so much for levelling up. Many areas are just ‘easy targets’. Try Westminster …” 28

“It will only get worse and still Yvette does nothing.” 20

“Home visits and signed on to the generous sick benefits for life to give the full story.” 19

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Personal assistant Carl Gannon, 52, said it was “shocking” that doctors are being paid to treat the migrants.

Speaking near a shopping centre in Halton, he said: “It’s not a great look when most of us are struggling to get doctor’s appointments ourselves.

“But I don’t blame the migrants and I’m not angry towards them. However I do blame the government and the previous government before them.

“The asylum system is completely broken and it needs sorting out but the politicians have failed dismally to do it.

“There’s all sorts of rumours that migrants are going to be put up in office blocks or even a cinema round here.”