East Lothian Community Hospital is one of NHS Lothian’s flagship hospitals which was fully opened in November 2019.
It welcomes over 50,000 outpatients each year across its extensive range of services. It has an onsite endoscopy suite and is actively identifying opportunities to deliver more local services, preventing residents having to travel extensive distances.
In-patient Wards
East Lothian Community Hospital has 6 in-patient wards.
- Ward 1 is East Fortune House. It is our 20 bedded HBCCC palliative care ward.
- Ward 2 is Oaktree ward and consists of 20 mental health beds separated into functional, HBCCC and assessment beds.
- Ward 3 is a 24 bedded medical/rehabilitation ward.
- Ward 4 is 20 bedded intermediary care beds/rehab ward.
- Ward 5 (opened Oct 2023) is a dedicated orthopaedic rehabilitation ward, which has capacity for 24 patients.
- Ward 6 is a 12 bedded unit which is currently not occupied (November 2024).
The Hospital Nurse Practitioner’s team supports our wards 7 days a week over a 24hr period.
Being part of the ward team is really rewarding. Our team includes a wide variety of roles, working collaboratively to support each other to develop our skills and provide the very best care for our patients.
The in-patient ward team includes:
- Reception / Ward clerks who meet and greet visitors and patient on the ward.
- Band 2 Activity Coordinators who interact and plan activities for our patient’s day to day.
- Band 2 Health Care Support Workers (HCSW) providing patient centred care, promoting independence and working alongside the registered nurses. We actively encourage our HCSW to complete their PDA 6 at college to extend their knowledge and skills.
- Band 3 HCSW’s work alongside the Band 2 HCSW’s and the registered nurses. They can go onto to complete their PDA 7 at college. We also encourage our Band 3 HCSW’s to further expand their knowledge, completing their HNC to become a registered nurse to progress to a Band 4 roles.
- Our Band 4, 5 and 6 Registered Nurses are all supported to develop their knowledge, ability and skills. As part of personal development reviews, we set achievement goals and support them to achieve this.
Video: Hear from the team within the East Lothian Community Hospital in-patient wards
Patient Flow Team
East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership have developed our Site, Capacity and Patient Flow Team to facilitate and support appropriately planned discharges from East Lothian Community Hospital.
East Lothian Community Hospital is primarily a rehab / step down hospital and part of the role of Site, Capacity and Patient Flow Team is to highlight suitable East Lothian patients in both acute sites who would be suitable for transfer to East Lothian Community Hospital.
It then falls to this team to work with Social Work, Care Brokers, Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist to plot the patient’s journey for discharge.
Outpatients Department and Endoscopy
The Outpatients Department is a general outpatient department with 16 clinic rooms and 7 treatment rooms.
The current Outpatient working hours are from 8am to 5pm but the opening hours may change to incorporate evening and/or weekend working in the future.
The department covers a wide variety of specialties, this allows staff to gain experience over many clinics and services. New staff to the department will be given training in post, both within the department and externally and will always be supported by more experienced staff.
Outpatients is a team that takes pride in providing excellent standards of care to our patients while providing a supportive environment for staff development and learning.
The Endoscopy and Minor Procedure Unit comprises of two endoscopy rooms, a minor procedure room and an IV treatment room. The current working hours are from 7:30am to 6pm but the opening hours may change to incorporate evening and/or weekend working in the future.
The department offers a lot of variety so no two days are the same, this allows staff to gain experience over all areas within the department. New staff to the department will be given training in post, both within the department and externally and will be always be supported by more experienced staff.
Endoscopy and Minor Procedures is a department with team work at the heart of the services we provide. Our friendly, caring and approachable team take pride in providing excellent standards of care to our patients while providing a supportive environment for staff development and learning.
Video: Hear what the endoscopy team have to say
