Project: London is a new initiative from Médecins du Monde UK to help improve access to healthcare for vulnerable groups in London.

First and foremost, Project: London is an advocacy project that provides information, advice and practical assistance to vulnerable people to help them access NHS and other services. In order to reach the most hard-to-reach groups, Project: London's volunteer teams provide basic healthcare in the interim period, until these people reach mainstream services.

Find out about Project: London and what it takes to become a volunteer

The Project: London team for each session consists of medical staff and at least two support workers. All volunteers have undergone training by Médecins du Monde UK.

Project: London will work with, and in the premises of three partner organisations which provide complementary services for three groups of vulnerable people who need help to access healthcare. The London-based organisations and their client groups are:

• Praxis: working with displaced people and new residents
• Providence Row: working with homeless people
• Open Doors: working with vulnerable women involved in prostitution

Currently, Project: London is only active on the premises of Praxis and Providence Row. Outreach activity with Open Doors will commence in 2008.

Project: London has published its first Annual Report, based on data collected about obstacles to accessing healthcare and the health needs of its service users.

Médecins du Monde has also released its results of its European enquiry into the difficulty of access to healthcare in six European countries.

These documents will be used as a basis to advocate for vulnerable people to get the medical care that they need. The information collected about Project: London’s activities will enable monitoring of the project’s progress against a defined set of indicators and targets.

Click here to read our two years full-scale review of the project.