Willow Wong, VP Welfare and Diversity, discusses her ideas to improve the health centre service.
In the past few years, Royal Holloway students have been encouraged to register with the Health Centre when they first arrive at the College. This ensures all students have access to the healthcare services provided by the NHS throughout their studies.
Last week, an online petition was started by Phoebe Dormand, a current student at Royal Holloway calling for the campus health centre to improve its services. The online petition has since received over 1500 signatures, which shows that the health care services available on campus are an important issue for many of you.
As your VP Welfare & Diversity, my role aims to empower student voices and advocate for better support for student welfare on campus.
Since the petition has been published online, I have been in contact with Phoebe to understand her reasons for starting the petition.
As she explains: "At universities, the medical facilities should provide a high standard of care. Many students are moving away from home for the first time, so coping with the stress of university studies and adjusting to a new environment make university students more vulnerable to mental health problems than ever before.
“As such, there is a real need for the health centre to improve its provision to cope with student needs.”
After discussions with the College’s Student Wellbeing team on the best way forward, I believe it’s important to better understand the current situation to then allow us to identify areas that require improvements and develop a strategy for change if this is required.
How can I contribute to improving the health centre services?
In order to better understand students' experiences of the health centre, you can now share your thoughts with us by completing this short survey. Your testimonies will contribute to our wider campaign to improve health care services and mental health provision available to students on campus.
Take the survey
As always, feel free to contact me at vpwelfare@su.rhul.ac.uk with any questions or feedback!
WILLOW WONG
VICE-PRESIDENT, WELFARE AND DIVERSITY