Health & wellbeing

The College Nurse, Julie Barker, is a Registered Nurse (RN Adult) with over 25 years' experience working in various settings including Clinical Nurse Advisor (111), Clinical Nurse Specialist in Cardiology and seven years working in emergency practice in the Emergency Department of Tauranga Hospital in New Zealand. 

She offers confidential help with a range of health and welfare needs. This includes assessment, advice and support for minor injuries and illnesses as well as support with long term medical conditions. She is also able to assist with general health queries, including where these impact on everyday life and ability to engage with study. The College Nurse also offers a safe space to discuss sexual health, including contraception and STI testing.

If specialist help is required the Nurse will direct you to the appropriate service such as GP or A&E. Where students have wellbeing concerns, worries or mental health conditions, she may also signpost to the College Wellbeing Advisor or other services as appropriate.

Weekly clinic times are advertised in Newnham News each week in term.

Book an appointment with the nurse

The College Wellbeing Advisor, Hiruni Cox, is a BACP-accredited counsellor with a Master's degree in Rehabilitation Counselling from the University of Sydney. Hiruni is from Sri Lanka and has an international perspective shaped by her experiences from living in Australia and the UK. With nearly a decade of experience in mental health, she has spent the last four years supporting students from different universities, including the University of Northumbria, York St John's, and the University of Cambridge.

Hiruni offers confidential one-to-one wellbeing support for students, helping with a wide range of issues such as anxiety, low mood, or interpersonal difficulties. She supports students with their transition to University and offers strategies to cope with stress and workload pressures. Hiruni helps individual students access mental health support within the University and beyond. 

Hiruni works closely with the student body to develop the College's wellbeing culture and peer-support systems. She organises events to promote student wellbeing such as art therapy, yoga sessions and Pets As Therapy visits.

To book an appointment please access the booking system here.  

The University offers a range of Student Support Services. This includes the University Counselling Services (UCS), the Postgraduate Wellbeing Service, the Mental Health Advice Service and the Harassment and Violence Support Service (HVSS). The website includes self-help information and details of groups and workshops.

The University Counselling Service (UCS) offers “one at a time” therapy which aims to see students quickly and provide them with strategies to tackle their difficulties. There is a video explaining this approach here. Newnham, like all other colleges, contributes to funding this provision, which is available to both undergraduates and postgraduates.

Students can self refer into most of the central University support services via the form on the website.

The Students' Union (CUSU) offers a student advice service with out-of-hours support, sexual health schemes and general wellbeing support.

All Newnham students, including those from the EU and Overseas, are strongly encouraged to register with a local NHS (doctor's) surgery to facilitate access to medical treatment in the UK.

Most Newnham students choose to register at Newnham Walk Surgery, a short walk away from the College. Once you are in the UK you will be able to register online. If you choose Newnham Walk, you can register here: GP registration. 

If you live elsewhere in Cambridge, you can find your nearest GP Surgery by entering your postcode here: Find a GP – NHS (www.nhs.uk)

If you are a UK national then registering with a GP in Cambridge does not preclude you from consulting your family doctor during vacations although you will be asked to complete a temporary resident form on these occasions. 

The University and College make reasonable adjustments for students with a disability.

Students are strongly encouraged to disclose any disability before arriving in Cambridge so that these reasonable adjustments can be made. The Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre (ADRC) has an online form which you should complete before coming into residence, or as soon as possible afterwards, in order for your needs to be assessed. You may be provided with a Student Support Document (SSD) outlining your reasonable adjustments.

 https://www.disability.admin.cam.ac.uk/tell-us-about-your-disability

Giving the College and your Department permission to view your Student Support Document (if you are issued with one) will alert us to any special provision the College and Department might reasonably provide to support you during your course. Remember: a disability does not affect the requirement to achieve specific academic standards or to follow the University course or abide by University and College rules. Every Tripos has competence standards which all students must meet, including those with disabilities.

The Accessibility & Disability Resource Centre (ADRC) may be able to provide specialist support or mentoring for you.

Any student with an allergy must make an appointment to see the College Nurse to discuss their needs. The College's catering team needs to be made aware of students' food allergies and intolerances, and the Nurse can assist with this as well as with signage for college kitchens.

Students who carry an Adrenaline Auto-Injector (EpiPen) must make sure that they have it with them at all times, that it is in date, and that their friends and neighbours know where it is and what to do in an emergency.

The College has two Adrenaline Auto-Injector kits and all Porters are trained first-aiders.

All members of college can help by being considerate in shared kitchens (e.g. keeping them clean) and being aware of students at risk of anaphylaxis.

Newnham Anaphylaxis Emergency Guidelines

See these helpful tips for students with allergies.

If a situation arises in College where you don’t feel safe, you are encouraged to contact an appropriate member of College staff as soon as possible. This may be your Tutor or DoS, the College Nurse or Wellbeing Advisor, the Porters or other administrative or academic staff. 

Concerns about safety often arise outside of the normal working day and so are brought to the Porters in the first instance: 01223 335700. 

So that situations where a student is at risk are appropriately logged and responded to, the Porters usually note their concern via an incident report, which gives an overview – but not details – about the risk you have reported. These reports are typically seen by the Senior Tutor, Postgraduate Tutor, College Nurse, Wellbeing Advisor, the Head of the Tutorial & Academic Office, and your own Tutor. These staff members are included to ensure concerns for your welfare can be followed up as soon as possible by the most appropriate person. The Porters will, where possible, seek your consent to report their concern, to call support staff or the emergency services if that is necessary. At times, if you lack capacity to consent, they may have to proceed to get help for you anyway. Our priority at all times is your safety.

For information on student safety from the University, the NHS and charities, there is a useful collection of resources here. These include materials you can access both for yourself and if you are worried about a friend. https://www.studentsupport.cam.ac.uk

Please also see here our Emergency Contacts Policy.