Health & Welfare

LMH is passionate about nurturing a supportive and healthy environment for our whole community. We have a team of health professionals, tutors, support staff and students dedicated to provide help and advice. You will find lots of resources and contact details on our wellbeing site http://www.lmh.ox.ac.uk/wellbeing.

Access to services

All students, irrespective of their course length, are asked to register with our College medical practice.  Please follow the instructions on the Medical Registration document sent to you by the Academic Office or Visiting Student Administrator to pre-register with the practice.  This process will be completed during induction week. If you are already registered with the UK NHS, make sure you know your NHS number and bring this with you. 

Lady Margaret Hall does not provide medical insurance for students.  International/visiting students who are coming for the full academic year on a student visa (having paid the mandatory health charge) are entitled to treatment free of charge on the National Health Service (NHS).  Students who are here for only one or two terms (i.e. less than 6 months) are not eligible for this, however they are still asked to register with our college medical practice and may access treatment on the NHS on a pay-as-you go basis at a rate of approximately £60 per consultation.  Please be aware that this is not private healthcare, and there is often a few days wait for an appointment.  If a student wishes to be seen quickly, or if private care is preferred, our College Nurse can refer students to the Mayfield Clinic (www.mayfieldclinic.co.uk), which is a private General Practitioner (GP) service delivered by 5 experienced doctors and a practice nurse.  The standard medical appointment is 30 minutes with a doctor and costs £150.  The practice also has a psychologist who specialises in working with students, a clinical psychologist and a consultant psychiatrist.  In addition the practice also offers travel clinic services and sexual health services.

The doctors’ practice for LMH is Banbury Road Medical Centre, based at 172 Banbury Road in Oxford.  During term time, for the convenience of students, the College Doctors come in to LMH and offer bookable appointment sessions every week, weeks 1 to 8.  The rest of the week students are welcome to make appointments with any of the doctors in the main practice.  The College Nurse is Mrs Anne Harpin, who is available during term time from 8.30am to 3pm.  They offer a full range of services – general medical, psychiatric/psychological, sexual health, contraception, travel advice and immunisation.  Their relationship with students is completely independent of the college, with absolute confidentiality ensured.  An out-of-hours emergency service is also available by dialling 111.

Insurance and vaccinations

Please ensure that any private medical insurance you take out covers you for treatment outside the UK should you decide to travel during the vacations.  If you are taking prescribed medicines you should be aware that some drugs which are available in your home country are NOT available in the UK.  You should discuss your prescribed medicines with your doctor to ensure you are able to fill your prescription in the UK.

We strongly encourage all students to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus in the interest of the health and safety of the entire College community.

It is MOST important to note that you must arrange to have been vaccinated for both Meningitis and Mumps before your arrival in Oxford.  Further information on this can be found on the following page of the Oxford University website: https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/welfare/health/vaccinations?wssl=1.  You will be required to provide details of the dates when you have received the vaccinations listed on this page in your individual appointment with the College Nurse during induction week.

The health & welfare section of the Oxford University website also contains some useful resources on coping with academic life which many students may find useful: https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/welfare/counselling/self-help/academic-life?wssl=1. This includes a helpful section for Freshers on adjusting to University life.