Dr Sarah Ledingham
Dr Richard Baskerville
Prof Richard McManus
Dr David McCartney
ANP Debra Sprague
/ / 27 Beaumont Street
Medical Practice
OX1 2NR
Tel: (01865) 311500
Fax: (01865) 311720
Email:
Website:
August 2017
Dear Student
We are writing to welcome you to Oxford and to introduce ourselves to you as your College Doctors. We are a group of General Practitioners (GPs) working for the National Health Service.
The National Health Service (NHS)
All students and their dependents who are studying in the UK for longer than six months duration are entitled to register with the NHS. This is a Government-funded service, paid for by British tax-payers. Please go to for more information. As a patient, you generally access the NHS through your GP. In the UK you cannot consult a medical specialist without going through the GP first.
The Practice at 27 Beaumont Street
GP services are based in the community. Our practice is based at 27 Beaumont Street, a short walk from your College. We work as a partnership of five doctors and one Advanced Nurse Practitioner, along with a team of nurses, a midwife, a counsellor and administrative staff. You are free to consult any of us, not just the doctor linked with your College. Once you have got to know a doctor we would encourage you to see that doctor where possible as this is better for continuity of care.
Our services are strictly confidential. While we have a link with your College we do not discuss your medical issues with anyone in the College, your friends or your family unless you ask us to do so.
The Practice is open on weekdays from 08.30 – 18.00 and we offer Extended Hours early morning and late evening sessions during the week at the surgery. Appointments are alsoavailable atEvening and Weekend GP Clinicsheld at St Bartholomew’s Medical Centre.All consultations are by appointment ONLY and are ten minutes long. Patients with urgent problems are seen on the same day whenever possible. If you are too ill to come to the Practice, please contact us or the College Nurse by telephone in the first instance in the morning. At nights and weekends there is always a doctor on call for urgent problems through the out-of-hours service contacted by dialling 111.
We also offer online access for appointment booking, repeat medication and medical records viewing. Ask at reception for details.
The College Nurse
Some of the Colleges have a College Nurse based on the premises in the mornings during term time. Her service is provided free to you. She offers health advice and support as well as treatment for minor ailments. She will visit you in your College room if you are ill and request it. If you are not sure whether you need to see a Doctor or not, we suggest you contact your College Nurse first.
Oxford Accident and Emergency Department
The John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford has an A&E Service. If you break a bone or have a life-threatening emergency then you should go straight to the A and E department. For all other problems you should contact the Practice first so that we can advise you on the best and quickest way to get help.
Ongoing Medical Problems
If you have a pre existing health condition, we request that you bring copies of your medical records and diagnoses with you to help us to help you, and for your medical records here.
Medication and Repeat Prescriptions
If you are taking regular medication we will need to set up repeat prescriptions for you. Please make an appointment to see a GP at the Practice when you arrive in Oxford so that we can organise this. There is a standard charge for all NHS prescriptions; this is currently £8.60 per item and is payable to the pharmacist.
There are some medicines and treatments that are not available through the NHS (eg Buproprion for the treatment of depression, desensitising injections for the treatment of allergies) and other that are restricted (eg. Escitalopram and Nuva-ring). We are happy to prescribe effective alternatives for you wherever possible.
Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
NHS GPs are unable to prescribe drugs for the treatment of ADHD unless the condition meets the strict criteria for the diagnosis in the UK. These criteria differ to those in the USA and some other countries. When you arrive in Oxford you may find you are not entitled to NHS prescriptions and if this is the case you will need to see a private GP or Specialist to get your prescriptions privately. We can help to arrange this for you but you will find that the consultations and prescriptions are expensive. For these reasons, it may be simplest either to bring sufficient supplies with you or to make arrangements for your medication to be sent to you from home. Please email us now if you have any questions or concerns about this.
Immunisations
It is particularly important to check whether you have had all your immunisations before you arrive. The Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine and the Meningitis ACWY (Men ACWY) vaccine are strongly recommended as these infections circulate rapidly in the student community. Over recent years we have had several mini-epidemics in Oxford of Measles and Mumps. If you have missed any of these immunisations, we can give them to you but immunity takes time to develop.
Registering with the Practice– IMPORTANT
To register please complete the attachedGMS1 Form, theNew Patient Questionnaire and the Summary Care Record Choice Form. Completed forms should be emailed back to us
We need accurate information about you and would greatly appreciate a brief report from your current doctor with details of any important medical problems for our records.
For further information about us please visit our website at
We all wish you good luck in your studies at Oxford.
Best wishes from the team at 27 Beaumont Street Medical Practice
Practice Manager: Ms Elizabeth Baldock