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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

...to ask those of you whose DCs are new uni students...

20 replies

Featherbag · 19/09/2013 22:32

To make sure they've registered with a local GP? And if not, hound them to do it tomorrow! I've triaged no fewer than 14 new students today with minor (but painful and/or unpleasant) illnesses who I should've sent to their own GP, but because they haven't registered with one (in fact, to most of them it seemed to have come as a massive surprise that they might need to do this), and I didn't have the heart to turn some of them away (from A&E), I got it in the neck for adding them to our queue! Please please please tell your kids not to wait until they actually need a doctor before registering!

And yes, I know they're technically adults now, but the ones I've seen today genuinely didn't seem to realise that this was an important thing they needed to do!

OP posts:

StuntGirl · 19/09/2013 23:06

Some uni's give you specific days/times to go down and register. Mine wasn't straight away, so if I'd injured myself before registering I'd have been screwed I guess!

Scholes34 · 19/09/2013 23:16

The real fun with students not registered with a local GP starts in exam term when they get ill and the Board of Exams wants medical evidence in support of any special conditions. How do they think that might happen in a timely fashion?

PenelopePipPop · 19/09/2013 23:24

StuntGirl has a point. Our on campus health centre has specific days for registration and there will obviously be thousands of students on campus milling around unregistered (and pissed and sharing infectious diseases) before that point. But if it is something that can wait till surgery hours they should be able to get an emergency appointment - they may turn up at A&E because this doesn't occur to them. If you know what uni they are from might be worth dropping an e-mail to their student support services to say you've noticed this issue and see if their systems can do anything to address the lack of gorm.

jacks365 · 19/09/2013 23:30

My daughters uni was really good and gp registration forms were in the pack sent as soon as she got her place and sent back with all the signed forms etc. They are a large campus uni and the gp does a surgery on site. Even if not registered a gp will still see them if needed so you could still have referred them to the local gp surgery.

HarrietSchulenberg · 19/09/2013 23:31

Not all universities have their own health centres, and those that are closest to campus are the most popular (ie busy). It's best to register with a health centre close to where you live rather than the campus where you study as they're easiest to get to when you wake up ill.

I used to work with students and yes, they do need to get registered ASAP. I First Aided a third year student last year who had passed out in a lecture. Said his GP was 5 mins away from his parents' house. Which was 200 miles away from where he was studying.

FatOwl · 19/09/2013 23:40

My dd is off to a campus uni and she has a time slot one day next week to go and register

StuntGirl · 19/09/2013 23:49

It does seem silly that this is obviously a known issue and yet there's nothing they can do? Couldn't the hospital waive the issue for x amount of time around the new school year? Just to give students the chance to register?

Obviously if it gets to November and they're still not registered it's their own silly faut!

sashh · 20/09/2013 06:06

Can I add, maybe not quite so urgent, but register with a dentist too.

littlewhitebag · 20/09/2013 06:12

My daughters uni doesn't have a campus doctor. She just registered with one she had walked past a few times. They appear to be really great and she always gets appointments easily.

cory · 20/09/2013 07:57

Penelope's suggestion is good: drop student services an email to let them know there is an issue. They can easily send a message out to all new students and it's their job to deal with these things.

Original poster

Featherbag · 20/09/2013 09:02

The local uni doesn't have a campus GP, they just have to register with one near where they live - the uni know it's an issue because we tell them every year, but still do nothing! I know in theory GPs will still see an unregistered student, but in practice it unfortunately doesn't happen, I've tried to make appointments for then myself and been refused. As for the suggestion that we 'waive the issue' - we have no extra staff and no extra rooms, so where the hell would we put all of these extra people?! I've posted this in the hope that at least a few new students who aren't registered yet will go and do it today because their MNer mum/dad/other relative gets on the phone this morning and reminds them

OP posts:

PenelopePipPop · 20/09/2013 09:27

If the uni know its an issue and do nothing name and shame - ask your hospital comms team to consider contacting local media about it (I can say this with impunity since this is obviously not the uni I work at!).

Seriously, 18 year olds who have just left home have to learn a lot in a short space of time about how to adapt to life at uni. It isn't actually their fault if they do not anticipate getting ill in the same week they are moving into their first home, trying to make a new set of friends, learning to budget for the first time and managing cooking, cleaning and laundry, finding out where their student loan has got to, opening bank accounts, registering for their degrees, meeting tutors, buying textbooks etc. I believe a certain amount of drinking takes place too. No we are not in loco parentis, but most universities recognise this period is frenetic and do what we can to smooth the transition. If you think your local uni is not taking action on student's health that should be addressed.

It may be that behind the scenes they are doing a lot, but it isn't effectively coordinated or relevant messages are not reaching students or GPs. Either way something obviously needs to give.

moominleigh94 · 20/09/2013 10:23

I'm a 2nd year uni student and last year, I couldn't register - we were told to register at the uni health centre, but we went there, were told they were full, and they only opened for an hour every week. We then tried to register with others, and were told we couldn't because we need to register with the closest one.

Registering with a GP is important as a student, but difficult - don't underestimate the difficulty of it. This year, me and my housemates have all managed to register with our closest GP (living in a house) as one of my housemates has asthma and I need to register with a midwife up here.

Make sure they know that if they get turned away from their closest, not to give up and to go and register with a different one - explain the situation of having the nearest one being rubbish. But also, I was told that no GP surgery is allowed to say that they're full, so they can't take that as an answer.

Musicaltheatremum · 20/09/2013 19:02

GPs can say they are full but they have to get permission from the health board (or English equivalent). The university practice in Scotland where I live had to do that as the number of students (undergraduates and postgraduates) is soaring and they have to go elsewhere.
My son has just gone to Dundee and they had practices coming to fresher's week for them to register.
And yes they should be able to get emergency treatment at a GPs but some are bad at doing this. (A real gripe of mine as some surgeries near mine refuse to see people but contractually they can't and we end up seeing them)

samandi · 20/09/2013 19:57

WTAF? Why the hell are students (or anyone) with minor illnesses/injuries going to A&E? If they haven't registered with a doctor, tough, they should be turned away!

As for surgeries being full ... I've never heard of that before Surely it doesn't matter whether you're a student or not, you live in an area and are entitled to NHS medical care.

ExcuseTypos · 20/09/2013 20:04

My DDs uni sent out a dr registration email, which she filled it in before she even went.

She just had to go down and show some kind of ID so that she can make appointments online- very modern!!

I thought this was fantastic and a shame more unis don't do it.

ExcuseTypos · 20/09/2013 20:04

She went on Saturday btw and I'm missing her very much.

moominleigh94 · 20/09/2013 20:13

Samandi a lot of them just have very little respect for the strain they put on doctors and nurses and staff at A&E - some at my uni don't consider it a proper night out if they don't end up in hospital, which is ridiculous.

I tried to register with one last year and was told they were full, can only report what I was told.

LondonInHighHeeledBoots · 20/09/2013 20:26

Seconded seconded thirded. The only reason I didn't end up hospitalised with meningitis in 1st year is because my friend wanted company to register at the gp so I went with her. and even then it was a close call, I was on abs for ages, had to retake my first year and a friend caught it off me and was hospitalised ams had to have shitloads of lumbar punctures. Dentists too!

WideScreenViper · 20/09/2013 20:35

Thanks for the reminder. My son got a form in his pack from Uni and knew he had to do this but with so much going on, as PPs have mentioned, he has probably forgotten even though he needs repeat prescriptions so I will check,and tell him not to forget Dentist too!

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