Dear Loretto
At the University of Liverpool we have a Student Counselling Service with a core staff of three
counsellors. We also have a number of sessional counsellors. In addition we accept some
placement students but only if they are doing some kind of advanced training and are already
trained as counsellors.
In the past we have employed a psychiatrist to do three sessions a week in Student Health. He
is due to retire this year and we are therefore looking at how we might replace him. Analysis of
the cases referred to him in the past shows that psychiatric care has not actually always been
the most appropriate and that counselling might have been more appropriate. It has sometimes
been quicker, however, to access the psychiatrist than the overstretched counselling service.
We are therefore looking at ways of providing less psychiatric cover but compensating for it in
other ways.
Student Health is run by an NHS group practice with whom we contract to provide extra
services. The latest idea which we are considering is that we will also contract with them to
procure a psychiatrist for one session a week and a clinical psychologist for one session a
week. We are hoping we will also be able to provide some more hours in the Counselling
Service. We hope, in this way, to be able to provide a multi-disciplinary team to work with
students on all sorts of issues of varying severity. We see it as a strength to involve more than
one agency, ie Student Health and the Counselling Service, and are working on ways of
improving communications between the two without breaching confidentiality. We are also
aware that some students prefer to go to Counselling rather than Student Health because they
don't want anything to go on their medical record - some medical students would be a good
example of this group.
I hope this is helpful.
Pam
On Mon, 17 Mar 1997 16:11:18 GMT Loretto O'Callaghan wrote:
> From: Loretto O'Callaghan <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 16:11:18 GMT
> Subject: Student Counselling Service
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> Dear dis-forum. May I seek your comments please!
>
> At Imperial College and on campus is a National Health Fundholding Practice
> which employs in addition to its Doctors and nurses, a psychiatrist and
> psychotherapists.
>
> The College's Student Counsellor works independently (and independently of
> the Health Centre) and in the strictest confidence and offers a service to
> which students have direct access.
>
> Looking to the future, there is some debate here at present as to whether
> the independent service offered by the Student Counsellor should continue or
> whether it should be incorporated in the Health Centre using its
> psychotherapists.
>
> May I ask what happens at other Institutions.
>
> I am most grateful for any comments.
>
> With kind regards, Loretto.
>
*********************************************
Pamela Bell-Ashe
Assistant Registrar (Student Services)
University of Liverpool
Tel 0151 794 2243
Fax 0151 794 2249
e-mail [log in to unmask]
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