Out of hours and emergency support
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. They will be able to take action to support you.
Most students in College are over 18 and, as adults, have the right to have personal information which they share dealt with confidentially, which means that it will not be passed on without your consent when shared with any College staff. However, if there are concerns of serious harm to yourself or others then staff may be required to share information without your consent to ensure yours and others safety. This is part of the College’s duty of care, under which we are required to act reasonably to protect your health, safety and welfare.
Concerns about safety often arise outside of the normal working day and so are brought to the Porters in the first instance. 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, 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
Registering with a GP
All Newnham students (including those from the EU and Overseas) are required to register with an NHS surgery.
Most Newnham students choose to register at Newnham Walk Surgery, a convenient minute’s walk away from the college. This year, you will be able to complete GP registration online.
College Health and Wellbeing Centre
Our College Nurse and College Counsellor are based in the College Health and Wellbeing Centre, which is on the ground floor of Pfeiffer building, across the garden from the Porters’ Lodge. For accessibility details, see AccessAble.
College Nurse
Our College Nurse, Anne Schumann, holds regular surgeries and can offer medical advice. She is available to help with a wide variety of health and welfare needs, ranging from advice on minor illnesses and injuries to support for emotional issues. If more specialised help or treatment is required, she will help refer you or point you in the right direction via your GP, the University Counselling Service or other local service.
The Health Centre is open during term time. Weekly clinic times are advertised in Newnham News each week.
All information disclosed to the College Nurse is kept in strict medical confidence. No information will be shared with other parties without prior consent except in extreme circumstance.
Book an appointment with the nurse
Newnham College Health Records – GDPR Statement
Newnham College – Nurse Confidentiality Statement
College Wellbeing Advisor
Our College Wellbeing Advisor, Sineidin O’Reilly-Williams, can be found in the Pfeiffer building, room G01 opposite the Health Centre waiting room, 09.00-1700 every weekday except Thursday. To book a time to chat, please drop her an email: Sineidin.oreilly-nelson@newn.cam.ac.ukIf our doors are open – do pop in. If our doors are closed – please email or come back later.
Mental Health
Your mental health needs to be looked after as much as your physical health. See the University’s Student Wellbeing pages for ideas and guidance on how to support your mental health at University.
Many people sort out problems by talking to friends, family or staff in their College or Department. Each student is also allocated a Tutor who may be approached for advice in addressing questions about academic, financial, health, family or other personal issues that may be affecting your ability to pursue your studies effectively. They will also be able to signpost you to other areas of support. You can find out who your Tutor is by looking on CamSIS.
Some of you will wish to speak to the Chaplain, Rev Dr Arabella Milbank Robinson, who is available to ‘students of all faiths, or none’; she can be reached at amm245@cam.ac.uk.
Sometimes looking up information about things that are concerning you is helpful, and UCS has a large selection of self-help information available. However, there are times when this is not enough and you may wish to speak to a Counsellor.
Newnham students can access free counselling via two main routes: College counselling or at the University Counselling Service.
1. Newnham College Counsellors
We have two new Counsellors, Sue Arnold and Isha Mehta, starting on 26 September 2022. Isha identifies as BAME.
Sue is available as follows:
Term time hours:
Tuesdays 10:00 – 16:00
Isha is available as follows:
Term time hours:
Fridays 10:00 – 16:00
All students are able to book a one-off, 30-minute “check in” session with either Counsellor to offload and seek support. These sessions can either be in person (in Pfeiffer G07), or over the phone / video call – you will be able to confirm this with the Counsellor before your session. You will be able to book up to three one-off sessions; if more sessions are required after this, you can access additional, longer sessions at College (weekly or fortnightly) by liaising with the Counsellor.
Counselling out of term in the short vacations will be by arrangement.
To book a 30-minute check-in appointment with a Counsellor, please click here. Please remember to select either Sue or Isha from the drop-down menu depending on the day you would like to book.
2. University Counselling Service
Newnham helps to fund the University Counselling Service (UCS), and all Newnham students have full access to their services and their numerous counsellors.
Changes are underway at the University Counselling Service (UCS) to reduce waiting times and improve student counselling provision. You can read about the changes here: Changes to the University Counselling Service | University Counselling Service (cam.ac.uk). You can also watch a video explaining the one-to-one support on offer.
More information and a link to the self-referral form are here: Individual counselling | University Counselling Service (cam.ac.uk)
UCS counsellors are available: Monday-Friday 09:00-17:00.
The Service remains open throughout the year except for brief closures at Christmas and Easter.
UCS also has a large selection of self-help information available on this website.
You can also request to speak to a BAME Counsellor through UCS. If you have any issues with accessing a BAME Counsellor, then please speak to:
Professor Manali Desai md644@cam.ac.uk (BAME Advisor)
Anne Schumann nurse@newn.cam.ac.uk (College Nurse)
Other useful information can be found here: Mental health support | Student Wellbeing (cam.ac.uk)
Don’t forget that if you are struggling and want to talk things through, the College Nurse is available Monday- Friday. You can check out times and book on Moodle.
University Good Life Project
CPSL Mind (Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire Mind) have launched a couple of new initiatives focusing on University students. The University Good Life Project (funded by Primary Care Network) offers free informal well-being support in ‘Good Mood Cafes’ Thursdays 2-3pm (10-15 students per session on Zoom) and aims to provide a positive safe space with messages for self-care. ‘Open Door Calm Spaces’ offer sessions on mindfulness and relaxation techniques. They also provide a series of courses to students on well-being awareness and ‘Tools and Techniques’.
Allergies in College
If you carry an Adrenaline Auto-Injector (EpiPen) you are encouraged to keep a spare in College – please see the College Nurse about this, and make sure that you carry your AAI at all times, that it is in date, and that your friends and neighbours know where it is and what to do in an emergency.
All members of college can help by:
• Being considerate in your shared kitchen – clean up after yourself.
• If someone has an anaphylactic reaction help them administer their EpiPen and ‘phone 999. Let the porters know: 01223 335700 – so that they can direct paramedics and, as trained first-aiders help.
• A spare EpiPen is kept at the Porters’ Lodge for use in an emergency.
Newnham Anaphylaxis Emergency Guidelines 2021
See these helpful tips for students with allergies