The country’s leading medical colleges and doctors’ groups have joined forces in a last-ditch attempt to save the so-called Medevac law as the Federal Government gears up to push its repeal bill through Parliament.

A joint campaign by 11 specialist colleges, including the RACGP, says the law is a “basic human right” that has improved access to healthcare for refugees and asylum-seekers on Manus Island and Nauru.

The campaign comes ahead of a Senate inquiry, due to report on Friday, to inform the Coalition’s push to scrap the medical evacuation legislation via repeal bill, which could be debated in the Senate as early as next week.

The law, which came into force in March, gives doctors greater powers over the care of people in offshore immigration detention, especially their transfer to Australia for treatment.