College doctors and nurses
Student health is primarily a college responsibility and your college will already have an arrangement with a NHS doctor. Find out who your recommended college doctor is here or alternatively you can choose any other practitioner if you prefer (if they will take on new patients). In any case, you should register with a doctor in Oxford as, in the eyes of the Department of Health, you are deemed to be a resident of the city during your studies. At any practice it is normally possible for you to choose to consult either a male or a female doctor.
For minor cases of sickness and ailments, you are generally able to consult and obtain treatment from your college nurse, and most colleges either provide sickbays or have special arrangements for students who are confined to bed in their rooms.
Like all doctor-patient relationships, those between college doctors, college nurses and students are confidential.
NHS charges
Students in full-time education under the age of 19 are exempt from most NHS charges, e.g. prescriptions. Other students may be entitled to help with charges on the grounds of low income. Further information is available from the NHS leaflet HC11 – "Help with Health Costs", which you can get from a main post office, Social Security office, or NHS hospital – or possibly your GP. The leaflet is also available on the web.
International students
Information on the entitlement of international students to free hospital treatment under the National Health Service is available on the NHS Choices website and you are strongly advised to consult this.
If you are on a full-time course of study lasting six months or more or on a course of any duration that is substantially funded by the UK Government, you are entitled to free hospital treatment in England. This entitlement extends to your spouse and children (under the age of 16, or 19 if in further education) if they are living permanently with you for the duration of your course. Individual hospitals are responsible for deciding whether a patient is entitled to free treatment or not, in accordance with the relevant regulations. In order to establish entitlement, hospitals can ask you to provide documentation that supports your claim that you are studying in the UK.
If you are unsure whether you are entitled to free hospital treatment you should check with the Department of Health at:
Room 4W04b, Quarry House
Quarry Hill
Leeds LS2 7UE
Tel: 0113 2545819
Email: overseasvisitors@dh.gsi.gov.uk
If you are not exempt from hospital charges, or only partially exempt, you are strongly advised to take out appropriate private healthcare insurance for the length of your stay in the UK.
For primary healthcare, you are advised to register with your college doctor or other local General Practitioner (GP). Your college can give you the contact details of the college doctor.