Preparing you for university

If you’re moving away from home to live closer to university, we strongly encourage that you register with a GP service in your area of residence as soon as possible.

Beacon Primary Care is a local practice and has a site situated on Railway Road in Ormskirk. The practice deliver a variety of enhanced services such as walk in clinics, scans, tests and contraceptive services.

For more information about Beacon Primary Care, and for information on the advantages of registering and how to do this, please take a look at the Beacon Primary Care website.

Alternatively, you will be able to find your nearest GP practice by going to the NHS website. You will then need to enter the postcode in which you reside during your studies into the search bar.

There are significant benefits to registering with a local GP at the beginning of your studies such as:

• Easy access for general and emergency appointments
• Easy access to prescribed medications and repeat prescriptions
• Up to date records of medical history and previous treatments
• Ability to request medical letters if required

Support for arranging and attending a GP appointment

We know that it can be difficult to talk to people when you’re having difficulties with your mental health.

Doc Ready is a website that can help you get ready for the first time you visit a doctor to discuss your mental health.

Using the website you’re able to build a check list of what you want to discuss and read information about what to expect from an appointment.

If you’re under the care of a mental health team at home, it is important to let them know in advance that you’re intending to move away for university.

This is to ensure that any planned care is not impacted by your move to university and alternative arrangements can be made. For example, if you’re receiving a therapeutic intervention via your GP, it may be that you and your therapist are able to complete this before you leave for university.

However if your mental health difficulties are more longstanding and you’re receiving longer term support from a community psychiatric nurse (CPN) or psychiatrist, you care team may need to transfer your care to an equivalent service that is more local to where you will be moving to.

If this does happen, your new team should contact you to arrange an appointment. However if this does not happen, please get in touch with the Wellbeing team ([email protected]) and they will look to support you to access the correct support to ensure you’re fully supported during your time at Edge Hill.

West Lancashire Walk in Centre at Ormskirk Hospital is open every day of the year including public holidays for people needing urgent help with minor illnesses or injuries.

The walk- in centre can help with:

• sore throats
• ear problems
• coughs and colds
• chest infections
• cystitis and urinary infections
• skin rashes
• DVT (blood clot in the leg – certain exclusion criteria apply)
• skin infections
• simple fractures / sprains
• insect and animal bites
• minor burns & scalds
• minor cuts and wounds
• emergency contraception.

The centre cannot provide routine GP services such as chronic disease management, for example, diabetes, blood pressure monitoring or routine referrals to consultant.

West Lancashire Walk in Centre,
Ormskirk District General Hospital,
Wigan Road,
Ormskirk,
West Lancashire
L39 2AZ

Providing a safe, secure and welcoming environment remains one of Edge Hill’s main priorities.

Campus support are trained in both physical and mental health first aid, and are available 24/7 to respond to any first aid requests rapidly.

This helps to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all of our students, staff, visitors and partners during their time here.

As qualified healthcare professionals, pharmacists can offer clinical advice and over-the-counter medicines for a range of minor illnesses, such as coughs, colds, sore throats, tummy trouble and aches and pains.

If symptoms suggest it’s something more serious, pharmacists have the right training to make sure you get the help you need. For example they will tell you if you need to see a GP.

Many pharmacies are open until late and at weekends. You don’t need an appointment – you can just walk in. Most pharmacies have a private consultation room where you can discuss issues with pharmacy staff without being overheard (NHS 2019).

Local pharmacies

• Aspire Pharmacy
  Tel: 01695 580022
  Address: 9 Railway Road, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L39 2DN
• Ormskirk Pharmacy
  Tel: 01695 580655
  Address: 4 Derby Street, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L39 2BY

Alternatively, find a pharmacy near you by searching your postcode on the NHS website.

NHS 111 is a 24/7 online and telephone service that will assess your problem or healthcare need, and advise you on self-care or direct you to the local service that can best help you. The local service could be a pharmacist, dentist, doctor, NHS walk-in centre, or the hospital Accident & Emergency department.

How can I access NHS 111?

1. You can access the NHS 111 service by going to the NHS 111 website and completing their online questionnaire
2. By calling 111 via the telephone

How NHS 111 works
You answer questions about your symptoms on the website, or by speaking to a fully trained adviser on the phone.

You can ask for a translator if you need one.

Depending on the situation you’ll:

• find out what local service can help you
• be connected to a nurse, emergency dentist, pharmacist or GP
• get a face-to-face appointment if you need one
• be told how to get any medicine you need
• get self-care advice

NHS 111 is for non-life threatening, urgent support. For more information on when to access what levels of service please see the page “How do I choose the right service?”

Hospital accident and emergency departments are for people with serious injuries or illness, or life-threatening emergencies such as severe chest pains, breathing difficulties, loss of consciousness or bleeding that can’t be stopped.

For patients 16 years and older, the Accident and Emergency department at Southport and Formby District General Hospital is open 24 hours a day seven days a week for serious injuries or illness and life-threatening conditions that cannot be dealt with by your pharmacist, GP or at a NHS walk-in centre.

Southport A&E is the nearest A&E to campus:
Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust
Southport and Formby District General Hospital
Town Lane, Kew
Southport
Merseyside,
PR8 6PN
Tel: Switchboard | 01704 547471

Locate your nearest A&E department. 

Dental examinations are available at Ravat and Ray Dental Practice based in the West Lancashire Health Centre, Ormskirk District General Hospital – to make an appointment ring: 01695 578019

NHS dental treatment is free for people under 18 (19 if in full-time education). Evidence of exemption must be brought with you to each dental appointment.

Our eyes rarely hurt when something is wrong with them, so having regular eye tests is important to help detect potentially harmful conditions.

The NHS recommends that you should get your eyes tested every two years (more often if advised by your ophthalmic practitioner or optometrist).

An NHS sight (eye) test is free of charge if you’re aged 18 and under and in full time education.

For more information about what services an optician may offer, and for information on what to expect during an eye test please visit the NHS website.

To find an opticians near to your university accommodation, please input your post code in the search bar on the NHS website.

Hants Lane offer full sexual health screening services for under 25s which are confidential and will not appear on your NHS record. There is no examination required.

Skelmersdale NHS Walk-in Centre is located in the Concourse and provides sexual health services for under 25s.

To book an appointment at either clinic or to find a sexual health service in your area visit this website.

Beacon Primary Care also provide a range of sexual health services.

You can find out about the 15 methods of contraception that are available on the NHS, together with where to get them and how to decide which method might work best for you.

Public Health England provide advice and guidance to young people starting University about the vaccinations needed. There is a range of information available on the Public Health England webpages.

Have you been vaccinated against Meningitis and Measles? Find out more below.

MenACWY vaccination
If you have received this vaccine from your GP before coming to University or in a previous year there is no need to have this again. You may have had a MenC vaccination as a baby and again more recently but this will not protect you against other meningococcal groups.

The MenACWY vaccine will increase your protection against MenC and help to protect them against three other meningococcal groups (A, W and Y). The advice is to have MenACWY if you have not previously received it even if you have been vaccinated against MenC.

If you did not get this vaccine before starting university you need to contact your local GP and ask them for this as soon as possible (preferably in the first few weeks of term).

Meningococcal bacteria can cause meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain) and septicaemia (blood poisoning). Both diseases are very serious and can kill, especially if not diagnosed early.

The early symptoms of meningococcal disease are similar to those of flu, so students need to be able to recognise the symptoms very quickly (even if they have been vaccinated, the vaccines offered through the routine immunisation programme do not protect against all forms of the disease).

A full description of the signs and symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia can be found at www.meningitis.org and www.meningitisnow.org.

Older students are at greatest risk of the MenW meningococcal disease, especially when starting university where they will come into contact with many new people of a similar age, so they will need to get vaccinated to protect themselves.

Vaccination also reduces the risk of them carrying the bacteria and so protects other people. This should, in turn, prevent the numbers increasing to serious levels. It is still important to know the signs and symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia because there are many other bacteria that can also cause these illnesses, including the group B strain that is not covered by this vaccination.

Measles, Mumps and Rubella
Public Health England (PHE) is also reminding young people to make sure they are vaccinated against measles after new cases were reported across England. Young people who are unsure if they have been fully vaccinated should check with their GP and make an appointment to ensure they receive the 2 doses of MMR vaccine required. More information about measles and the MMR Vaccine can be found on this Public Health England leaflet.