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Getting medical care as a university Student
Going to university? Have you made plans for looking after your health while you are there? Below are some tips from YOL! along with links for more information.
Tips from YOL!
Know NHS 111: Many people have heard about the phone number 111 for non-urgent medical advice, but did you also know that there is an online version of it? NHS 111 online is very helpful at asking some simple questions about the medical problem (mental or physical) you’re experiencing and can advise you quite quickly on what your best next steps are. It’s very helpful at avoiding unnecessary trips to A+E and unlike the phone version of the service has no waiting time to use it.
Register with a GP: It’s always best to tackle a problem before it has time to escalate or become something more serious. By registering with a GP in the new area that you’re becoming a student in, you can access medical support as soon as something happens without having to wait for an application to switch GPs to be processed. It also creates less stress in a situation which may already be stressful. While you may still spend a lot of your time as a student living at home in the holidays, you will very likely be at university for more than half of the year so it’s more likely you’ll be needing to access the services of a GP there than at home. It’s also generally possible to become a temporary patient at your home GP if necessary, during the holidays, and this is easier if you know someone (for example, a parent) already registered at the practice.
Ask for help if you need it: It’s better to ask for help and find out that everything’s ok rather than not ask for help and risk a problem becoming much more serious. There’s no shame in asking your parents (even if you want to be as independent as possible) or friends for advice or help if you’re not sure what to do. Many times you may also find that they’ve gone through a similar experience and know what could help, or have some helpful suggestions of what it might be helpful for you to do next.
More information
The NHS has a page on getting medical care as a student to help students understand what to do while at university including registering with a GP, dentist and sexual health.
YOL! suggest you reach out to the university you are going to be attending for local knowledge and what support your university offers to its students. For example, what is offered at Kingston University is available here.
There are some great online resources available to you if you need them. The Mix which offers information on several subjects around health at university such as eating disorders, depression, ‘freshers’ flu’ and more.
There are also Student Minds and Young Minds which are far more focused on supporting your mental health.