Guidance for Incidences of Students Admitted to Hospital

 Students can be admitted to hospital (in Edinburgh or where they are currently residing) at any point in their university journey. This guidance sets out steps to ensure that the student’s health is at the centre of our response to an admission, and to provide staff with support.

Initial steps

• University staff notified of admission
• University staff should notify the relevant Student Support staff in School or Deanery (Student Adviser and e.g. Director of Students; Head of Student Support)
• Student support staff to check if student known to them (on list for enhanced support, recent escalated special circumstances applications etc)
• Where appropriate, ask Student Counselling Service, Student Wellbeing Service, Disability & Learning Support Service and Chaplaincy if student known to them. Include Residence Life if student is in UoE Accommodation
• If Support for Study (SfS) policy needs to be implemented, start this process: SfS stage 2 and Authorised Interruption of Study (AIS) is required for students detained under Mental Health Act
• If a student has made a voluntary admission to hopsital for mental health reasons, SfS does not need to be implemented, but it is good practice to have a case conference.

Case conference

• If the student has been detained under the Mental Health Act, then the member of University staff with responsibility for the case (e.g. Head of Student Support) should arrange a case conference (see SfS policy)
• A case conference might also be helpful in other cases too. Invite relevant staff to the meeting (e.g. Student Adviser, Head of Student Support, ResLife). The case conference is an opportunity to establish what has happened and to make plans:
• who will contact the student/hospital/trusted contact (if required);
• which concessions (e.g. Authorised Interruption of Study; Special Circumstances) are required;
• what support might be needed when the student is discharged from hospital?

Circulate the plan to relevant staff following the conference, with due regard for confidentiality.

Communication

• If no contact with the student at this point (depending on their health) try to contact them by email or telephone as soon as possible to offer support. If that is not possible due to the student’s health condition, it may be appropriate for the hospital to be contacted. If so, establish who will do this (Reslife if in UoE accommodation, Student Mental Health Coordinator in SCS if in private accommodation). Avoid multiple staff contacting the hospital – a single point of contact is usually preferable.
• Ask student if their trusted contact is aware of the admission and whether they would like them to be contacted. If student is unable to converse due to their health condition, discuss with the Head of Student Support (or equivalent), local College office and relevant Wellbeing Services for guidance. You may have to liaise with the student’s trusted contact at this point without their permission. See Guidance on Communicating with Student Trusted Contacts | The University of Edinburgh
• There may be complexities and sensitivities with regard to sharing information with the student’s trusted contact, and if communication with the student is not possible, NHS on the inpatient unit should be asked about whether information has been shared
• Consider which university staff (e.g. Cohort Lead, Programme Director) need to be notified of the situation, with due regard for confidentiality. It may be sufficient to communicate that the student is in hospital and will be on Authorised Interruption of Study
• With student consent, Reslife or Chaplaincy can take belongings to the hospital for students in University accommodation only
• Reslife can arrange for accommodation for family if necessary.

Student support

• Add student to School’s enhanced support system, if appropriate
• Chaplaincy (or when appropriate, Res Life) liaise with the student as to whether or when they’d like a visit (in person Edinburgh only, online for out of Edinburgh or if requested). Chaplaincy also supports the families of students in hospital when appropriate. 
• If appropriate, liaise with student about AIS, leave of absence, coursework to be submitted etc. Offer support and guidance on extensions, special circumstances, fee payments , sign posting to Student Immigration etc. If student is unable to converse about this due to their health condition, consider which concessions can be put in place. Be mindful of potential visa implications of AIS, contacting Student Immigration Service for advice as required
• Academic decisions (e.g. Board of Examiners; release of marks) while the student is in hospital may impact student wellbeing. Consider the approach to take here.
• Consider whether it would be appropriate to offer support to other students (e.g. flatmates of the student in hospital)
• Ensure that there is a plan in place for when the student is discharged from hospital. Depending on the situation, this might involve e.g.: 
  • the student returning home or AIS
  • support from ResLife/Student Wellbeing Service;
  • DLSS support
  • Financial issues
  • AccessAble if relevant
• A return to study meeting under Support for Study stage 2 will be needed if the student was admitted under the Mental Health Act.

Staff support

• If the circumstances around the student’s hospital admission have been emotionally challenging, consider whether support for staff would be beneficial – e.g. accessing The Listening Service
• If the circumstances have been particularly complex, consider whether a debrief meeting would be beneficial for the staff involved, to review the approach that was taken, what went well etc.

With thanks to Katie Cebula, MHSE and Cheryl Hutton, Residence Life for contributing to this.