Parents Section
Here is some useful information for parents of students who are registered, or wanting to register with the Student Medical Centre.
We work closely with the University to ensure the seamless care of our students. Our clinicians have a number of years experience dealing with the student population, and work closely with the university if required in certain situations.
Non-urgent advice: Patient Confidentiality
We would like to stress that students are over the age of consent, and this means that we cannot share any of their medical details with parents.
If you ring the surgery for any reason, we will not be able to share any medical details of your child.
Registering With the Medical Centre
Firstly, we believe it is important that students who are living away from home register with the medical centre. This is so that they will be able to receive treatment and receive prescriptions quickly and effectively.
Not registering with the medical centre means that if they become unwell, it can take longer to get an appointment as we need time to put their details into the system.
How You Can Help Us
To help us to provide your son/daughter with the best care, it would be helpful for you to talk to them before them coming to university, helping them understand what to do if they become unwell, how to request a repeat prescription and what to do in an emergency. This is particularly important if they are on regular medication or have a long term condition.
If this is the case please stress the importance of registering with the doctor, so we can start providing them with the treatment they need. We also have a problem with students not requesting their prescription medication in time.
Many students do not understand the importance of requesting a repeat prescription in advance, and run out of their medication.
This puts a lot of strain on the surgery having to deal with urgent prescriptions which could have been dealt with more appropriately if requested earlier.
Please stress to your son/daughter that if they are on regular medication, they need to request a repeat prescription in plenty of time before they run out. This is particularly a problem for female students on the pill.
Urgent Appointments
Many students are not used to dealing with medical problems away from parents/home and it can be quite a distressing time if they become unwell. We would like to stress that we strive to help any medical issue or condition.
For particularly urgent problems, we have a duty doctor available everyday. If students would like same day attention, they need to telephone as early as possible and tell the receptionist who will arrange for the doctor to phone them back; this is usually within the hour.
The doctor will assess the problem and arrange either an appointment the same day, telephone advice or sometimes a prescription to collect.