TY - JOUR T1 - An Alarm Bell JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 285 LP - 285 DO - 10.3399/bjgp08X280010 VL - 58 IS - 549 AU - Gervase Vernon Y1 - 2008/04/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/58/549/285.abstract N2 - I wish to ring an alarm bell. The facts may not be unfamiliar to GPs who work in particular inner city areas, but may be quite new to GPs who live and work in ‘middle England’.Many mornings somewhere in the UK a private security van sets out. It belongs to a company sub-contracted by the Home Office and will arrive at its destination in the early morning, while the family is still asleep. They will be woken by a loud knock and given half an hour to pack their bags. Children will be woken too and given the same instructions. They will be taken to a detention centre. On other occasions, similar vans have picked up teenage children while they … ER -