Health Care
The Health Centre
The health and care of your child while at The Oratory is very important to us all.
Clare McSoley is our Nurse Practice Manager and is responsible for the smooth running of the school's Health Centre, which is permanently staffed during term time by a team of 5 registered nurses. The nurses work shifts so that there is a duty nurse present during the day and on call at night 3 times a week. The Lead Nurse/Practice Manager is on duty Monday –Saturday, and on night call 4 nights a week. We have 1 residential nurse. Nurses also provide sports pitch side support.
The Health Centre is contactable 24/7 during term time only:
Tel: 01491 683535. Mob: 07786 396124. (healthcentre@oratory.co.uk).
The Oratory School's Health Centre is equipped with:
- Nurses room – area for assessment and treatment of illnesses/injuries
- 1 x 4 bed bay – a room for any illness. It has a TV. There are also call bells to ring the nurses if required. There are separate toilet and shower facilities.
- Doctor’s/Physiotherapy Room
- Practice Manager Office
- Nurse’s overnight room
- Toilet and shower facilities for students
- Small kitchen to provide basic food such as toast, soup, fruit, biscuits
The Oratory School Health Centre philosophy
Our aim is to offer the highest standard of health care and advice to our patients, with the resources available to us. Our priorities and values are to provide a high standard of health care to all our patients while maintaining a caring and safe environment for all. We have a team approach to patient care and endeavour to monitor the service provided to patients, to ensure that it meets current standards of excellence.
Services offered
We provide 24/7 cover by trained nurses in the Medical Centre. Our nurses are always pleased to discuss any worries or concerns with students and parents. Nurses undergo regular updates and training to ensure care is evidence based and in accordance with current practice. We are there to support students with their physical and emotional well-being. We are able to provide homely remedies such as analgesia, antihistamines, cold medication, etc, and all prescribed/controlled medications. We are also trained in the use of Oxygen, Entonox, Salbutamol Nebulisers and Adrenaline which we have on site for medical emergencies.
If students need urgent or emergency treatment, they can obviously attend at any time. If they are physically unable to attend the Health Centre, then the nurse will attend to them onsite. Both boarding and day students are encouraged to attend the school Health Centre for routine health advice or treatment between the hours of 7.00am - 7.00pm. Ideally this is in their free time i.e., not during a lesson or school activity.
In an emergency a nurse will assess a student, contact parents and depending on whether they are day students or boarders we will refer them to the doctor on duty at the surgery. All boarders are expected to be registered with Woodcote Surgery.
Outside practice hours (after 7.00pm Monday to Friday and at weekends) the on-call nurse will contact Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust Out of Hours Service if she needs advice about a student. Injuries requiring further assessment or treatment are referred to a local Minor Injuries Unit or Accident and Emergency Department in Reading.
Dr Ed Capo-Bianco holds a doctor’s surgery for boarders in the School Health Centre twice a week on Mondays and Fridays during Michaelmas term and once a week on a Monday during Lent and Trinity term. If students need to attend a GP in holiday periods, they can attend any Woodcote Surgery GP as a ‘temporary patient’.
We ask the parents of all new students to The Oratory to fill out a detailed medical history form, including a vaccination history form and consent to medical treatment. This information enables our medical team to be aware of any health issues for the new arrivals as soon as they join us. All forms can be found on My School portal.
We also ask all parents to complete an Emergency Contact Form, where you nominate an alternative member of the family or guardian who can be contacted in an emergency if we are unable to contact you directly and immediately. Of course, we sincerely hope not to use this but it is far better to be prepared.
On entry to the school all students are offered a New Student Medical Check. This involves an individual baseline health assessment with a nurse, which enables the nurse to know what is normal for that particular pupil, alongside an informal chat about any health concerns they may have.
Boarding students are referred to the School Medical Officer if there is a current or previous significant health condition or any concern of which the doctor should be aware.
There is a physiotherapist in attendance twice weekly, on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Our Physiotherapist is Amanda Watt with Physiobility. The Physio can be accessed following a GP referral via private insurance, or alternatively, it can be paid for separately.
The School Counsellor is available to students free of charge.
Students' own medication
Under 16 years – students need to provide the Health Centre with any medication that they bring to school and this will be administered by the nurses.
Above 16 years - nurses will complete a medication assessment with the students and, if appropriate, the student can keep the medication in their rooms in a locked cupboard.
If a student is arriving from overseas with medication, please ensure that we are provided with a prescription and details of what these medications are, if they are not in English.
If a student is on a ‘controlled medication’ then regardless of age, the student will need to keep this in the controlled drugs cupboard in the Health Centre; nurses will administer this on a daily basis. It is also essential for any boarders to provide a prescription for this, in order for us to be allowed to administer it.
The Medical Team
- Dr Ed Capo-Bianco, School Medical Officer
- Clare McSoley, Practice Manager
- Jayne Reynolds RGN (Residential)
- Grainne McCormack RGN
- Samantha Eldin RGN
- Sarah Atkins RGN
- Joy Rose, Administrator
Tel: 01491 683535 / 07786 396124.
