Health and Welfare
Teddy Hall is committed to providing you with the necessary support to complete your course. All of the people listed below are around to help if needed.
Who’s Who?
The Decanal Team
The Dean has overall responsibility for welfare matters within the College and can be consulted on a daily basis during term. The Junior Dean, Assistant Junior Dean, and the Sub-Deans at NSE, WRM (Dawson Street) and Tamesis Guest House live on site and are also available to help. You can contact them via email or in-person to discuss any welfare concern you are experiencing. All conversations are confidential. You can speak to them about anythingfrom personal/academic issues, mental health, social problems, harassment – they are here to be a friendly listening ear and help you get access to the right support. The College Welfare Officers, Clare Woolcott and Jane Armstrong (listed below) can also be contacted for welfare support.
Dean: Professor Jonathan Yates (dean@seh.ox.ac.uk) – Mental Health First Aider*
Junior Dean: Abhimanyu Arni (Queen’s Lane and WRM) (abhimanyu.arni@seh.ox.ac.uk) – Mental Health First Aider*
Assistant Junior Dean: Katie Mellor (Queen’s Lane) (katie.mellor@seh.ox.ac.uk) – Mental Health First Aider*
Assistant Junior Dean: Tamsin Greene Barker (Queen’s Lane) (tamsin.greenebarker@spi.ox.ac.uk)
Sub-Dean: Daniele Cotton (Tamesis) (daniele.cotton@seh.ox.ac.uk)
Sub-Dean: Elinor Buys (NSE) (elinor.buys@law.ox.ac.uk) – Mental Health First Aider*
*a point of contact for anyone who is experiencing a mental health issue or emotional distress. Find out more further down this webpage.
Welfare Officers
The College has two Welfare Officers: Clare Woolcott and Jane Armstrong.
Jane Armstrong
Jane is a part-time advisor available by appointment.
Monday 13:00 – 17:00
Tuesday 09:00 – 16:00
Thurs 09:00 – 14:30
Friday 09:00 – 14:30
Clare Woolcott (also College Nurse)
Clare is an experienced counsellor and is available to talk to you about any pastoral issues, including matters of a confidential nature. Clare is also a Mental Health First Aider, meaning she is a point of contact for anyone who is experiencing a mental health issue or emotional distress. This interaction could range from having an initial conversation through to supporting the person to get appropriate help. As well as in a crisis, Mental Health First Aiders are valuable in providing early intervention help for someone who may be developing a mental health issue.
College Counsellor
The College Counsellor is James Cones and he will be available for appointments every Wednesday. Please contact him at counsellor@seh.ox.ac.uk.
Peer Supporters
A number of the students in the College have undergone training to act as Peer Supporters in order to provide a listening ear should you have welfare concerns.
College Doctor
The College is associated with the Summertown Health Centre, and Dr Matthew Cheetham and Dr Lorna Monteith from that practice are designated as College Doctors. Dr Cheetham and Dr Monteith will continue to offer a college service this Hilary term (week 1-9) on a Tuesday morning. The students will be able to book onto this service by visiting wellbeing.seh.ox.ac.uk.
Once on the site you can click on Doctor appointments. All the consultations will be online or via telephone initially and if the Doctor then needs to see you face-to-face they will arrange this with the student.
Book an Appointment at the College Surgery
College Nurse
The College Nurse, Clare Woolcott, can help with more minor illnesses. She will be running her clinics online and in-person. She will be based in College to allow this flexibility.
Students will be able to book an in-person or via Microsoft Teams at wellbeing.seh.ox.ac.uk and following the nurse link. These details will appear in the Nurse’s calendar.
Each appointment has been provisionally set at 1/2 hour.
Nurse appointments are available on:
Monday: 08:30-12:30
Tuesday: 11:15-12:30
Wednesday: 08:30-12:30
Thursday: 08:30-12:30
Friday: 08:30-12:30
Clare is available everyday until 3:30pm outside of her appointments.
You can also contact Clare Woolcott at nurse@seh.ox.ac.uk.
The Nurse’s room is located on the 1st floor of the main Quad and can be reached from Staircase 6. If you have concerns regarding access to this area, please contact the Nurse (nurse@seh.ox.ac.uk) who will make alternative arrangements.
College Support
If you have particular concerns regarding academic components of the course, you should in the first instance speak to your tutor (if you are an undergraduate student), or your supervisor (if you are a graduate student). If this does not resolve the concern then the College’s Tutor for Undergraduates and Tutor for Graduates are available for students to consult. Graduate students are also allocated a College Adviser who may be able to assist.
In addition, the JCR have an Academic Affairs Officer and the MCR have an Academic Rep who students are welcome to contact for advice or support.
St Edmund Hall condemns harassment as an unacceptable form of behaviour and has a service to help students who think that they are being harassed in any way, including sexual and racial harassment.
You can contact the College’s two Senior Welfare Officers – Clare Woolcott (College Nurse) at nurse@seh.ox.ac.uk and Jane Armstrong at welfare@seh.ox.ac.uk who are available to any members of the College who wish to consult them or seek their advice or support. You can also book an appoint via our Wellbeing website.
Students can also contact a member of the Decanal Team, Peer supporter, your departmental Harassment Advisor, the University Harassment Line (Tel. 01865 270760 or email harassment.line@admin.ox.ac.uk) or OUSU Student Advice Service.
Further information
- Read our Harassment Policy Flowchart to help you decide what action to take.
- View our College Policy and Procedure on Harassment
- Oxford University’s Sexual Harassment and Violence Support Service
- Oxford’s Harassment & Conflict Website
The College have a number of staff and students who are trained in First Aid and Mental Health First Aid:
Please see our list of First Aiders/Mental Health First Aiders 2023
If you are experiencing mental health problems, please do get in touch with one of our aiders.
The role
The role of a Mental Health First Aider in the workplace is to be a point of contact for a student or employee who is experiencing a mental health issue or emotional distress. This interaction could range from having an initial conversation through to supporting the person to get appropriate help. As well as in a crisis, Mental Health First Aiders are valuable in providing early intervention help for someone who may be developing a mental health issue.
Mental Health First Aiders are not trained to be therapists or psychiatrists but they can offer initial support through non-judgemental listening and guidance.
Mental Health First Aiders are trained to:
- Spot the early signs and symptoms of mental ill health
- Start a supportive conversation with a colleague who may be experiencing a mental health issue or emotional distress
- Listen to the person non-judgementally
- Assess the risk of suicide or self-harm
- Encourage the person to access appropriate professional support or self-help strategies. This might include encouraging access to internal support systems such as EAPs or in-house counselling services
- Escalate to the appropriate emergency services, if necessary
- Maintain confidentiality as appropriate
- Protect themselves while performing their role
If you have a disability which may impact on your studies or your life in Oxford, please see the information on our Disability Support page or contact the University’s Disability Advisory Service.
Our new College Chaplain is the Revd Dr Zachary Guiliano who leads Sunday Chapel services and special Chapel events. Zack is pastorally available for support.
To arrange a meeting please make an appointment by email: zachary.guiliano@seh.ox.ac.uk.
University Support
Oxford SU offers a wide range of support, advice and information through the Student Advice Service. Their service is free and confidential.
The University also runs a free Counselling Service. As well as individual and group counselling, they offer regular workshops on various topics to help students build skills to respond to the demands of university. There are also many other supportive resources on their website, including podcasts on topics such as advice for Freshers; how to tackle not working or working too hard; sleeping issues; and exam preparation and revision.
The University’s Sexual Harassment and Violence Support Service is also available to all students. To contact an adviser, please email supportservice@admin.ox.ac.uk.
Health Information and Resources
The meningococcal bacteria live in the nose and throat and are only passed on by prolonged intimate contact. Particularly in the winter season, members of the Hall are advised to be vigilant. The important thing is to know that the disease can develop very rapidly, sometimes within a matter of hours. Early symptoms of meningitis may be similar to those you get with flu or a hangover.
- Feeling feverish
- Vomiting
- Severe headache
- Stiff neck, back and joint pains
If you feel unwell, ask a friend to help you and to visit you regularly. If these symptoms are not relieved by paracetamol or aspirin, you should contact the College Nurse on (2)79063.
IF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS DEVELOP, GET MEDICAL HELP URGENTLY, AS EARLY TREATMENT SAVES LIVES:
- Rash of tiny red bruises that does not fade under pressure
- Severe dislike of light
- Disorientation or drowsiness.
For information, advice or medical help, contact the College Doctor (01865 515552) or one of the following 24-hour Meningitis help-lines:
National Meningitis Trust – 0808 801 0388
Meningitis Research Foundation – 0808 800 3344
Meningitis UK – 0117 947 6320.
If you need any further advice, please contact the College Nurse: email nurse@seh.ox.ac.uk or call (2)79063.
Below are some simple measures that can be adopted to help minimise the spread of flu (and other similar respiratory illnesses). The first five should be standard practice at all times since they can help to minimise the spread of the normal respiratory illnesses such as colds and winter vomiting.
- Wash your hands frequently with soap and water to reduce the spread of the virus from your hands to your face, or to other people.
- Cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, using a tissue whenever possible and washing your hands afterwards.
- Dispose of dirty tissues promptly and carefully – bag and bin them.
- Clean hard surfaces (e.g. kitchen worktops) and door handles with detergent daily, in addition to routine cleaning. The flu virus can survive for up to three hours on hard surfaces, such as tables and door handles.
- Don’t share unwashed cutlery or cups.
- Avoid non-essential travel and crowds at times of higher risk. It is likely that the government and health agencies will advise on both these issues in the event of a pandemic.
Symptoms of flu and further advice
The symptoms of flu include the following:
- a temperature over 38 degrees centigrade – forehead thermometers are easily purchased from local pharmacies, and cost around £3.
- a cough
- aching limbs/joints
- headaches.
If you are suffering from these symptoms, you should:
- stay in your room and rest
- take cold/flu medicines to relieve the symptoms
- drink plenty of fluids
- let a friend or colleague know that you are unwell.
If you have the following warning signs, you should phone your doctor’s surgery:
- getting worse after seeming to get better
- no improvement and temperature not coming down after 4 days
- severe or increasing breathlessness or difficulty breathing
- drowsiness or confusion
- coughing up blood.
If possible, please check your temperature before phoning the doctor. The Department of Health information website contains much useful information.
The importance of hand-washing
It is essential to maintain hand cleanliness as we unconsciously touch our mouths, noses and eyes many times each day. This allows for the ready transfer of cold and flu viruses from unclean hands.
When washing your hands, wet them with clean, comfortably hot running water and apply liquid soap (or clean bar soap). Antibacterial products are not necessary. Bars of soap should be kept clean and placed on a rack and allowed to drain. Dry your hands using a paper towel or an air dryer if possible.
Download this leaflet for information about how your health information is recorded by your College Nurse and your College Doctor’s practice, and who can see this information.