The Team and Services

The Health Centre works in partnership with Berkeley Place Surgery in Cheltenham. Dr Jim Ropner, Chief Medical Officer, oversees clinical practice and is a Council Member of the Medical Officers of Schools Association (MOSA), who meet regularly to develop and review best practise in the school setting. He has been involved in writing National Guidelines for the Management of Concussion in schools. Dr Georgia Woodburn works alternate days so that pupils have the option of seeing either a female or male GP.

Surgery is every week day morning 8.00am to 9.30am with clinics on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. GPs are available for nursing staff to discuss any concerns throughout the day.

All boarding pupils are automatically registered with a College GP so that we can ensure we have a comprehensive overview of their health needs. It is on strong recommendation from the Department of Health and MOSA that pupils at boarding schools are registered at the school. Due to the amount of time they spend at College, seeing a GP at home can be challenging and it is also crucial that we are able to access their medical records to be able to support them if they are unwell when at school. If your child is undergoing any kind of treatment or support from external services, either physical or emotional, please share this information with the Health Centre to enable us to coordinate with the appropriate teams at: nurses@cheltenhamcollege.org

Referrals to other specialists can generally be made on the NHS where needed, but unfortunately this is often not as prompt as we would like. Many parents choose to have private cover and the school offers a scheme through the Bursar’s office if this is required.

You will be informed if your child is referred to a specialist. This may be done by the GP, nurses, or Matron who will also accompany pupils to any appointments and take notes. This information is then fed back to the Health Centre team. Please do contact us if you would like to discuss anything in greater detail.

The team of seven nurses are managed by Lead Nurse Fiona Parry and supported by two administrators. With backgrounds in the NHS, as well as school and overseas nursing, they have a wealth of experience. Each Boarding House has a named Link Nurse who liaises with Matrons, monitors medicine usage, and delivers teaching sessions in House.

Nurses monitor childhood immunisations for the boarders and will contact you regarding any that are recommended for your child. We ask that your child be immunised according to the UK immunisation schedule so that we may protect the wider College community. For current recommendations, please visit the UK Government website.