We have a fantastic team of dedicated nurses. They work in different specialities and sites across the city. Here is some information about the different nursing roles in the Partnership and where they are based.

Bladder and bowel team

A specialist team of nurses and health care support workers in bladder and bowel assessment, treatment and management. See patients for assessment in a clinic, in their own home, hospital or a care home. Provide specialist advice and support to professionals and others caring for people with bladder and bowel problems and are responsible for providing regular education sessions in bladder and bowel health to all grades of staff.

Care homes

Nursing care for people over the age of 65 years who are frail and have complex care needs. We have dementia units caring for people who have mild to severe cognitive impairments.

Based at

• Castlegreen care home
• Royston Court
• Marionville Court
• Inch View care home
• North Merchiston care home.

Care home support team

Supports colleagues caring for residents living in care homes. Work in partnership with nursing and care staff to provide clinical care, education and advice. Includes holistic assessment, planning, implementing, and monitoring care. Some examples are

• wound care
• administering medication
• supporting patients with long term conditions
• giving health promotion advice
• delivering end of life/palliative care.

A city-wide service based at Astley Ainslie Hospital.

Community learning disability team

Delivers nursing care and treatment for adults and children who have learning disabilities and live in the community. Carry out assessments and provide treatment to

• promote independent living
• support physical and mental health needs
• advocate for their clients
• give advice and education to caregivers.

Based at

• Leith Community Treatment Centre
• West Pilton Gardens
• Wester Hailes Healthy Living Centre
• Ballenden House.

Community mental health teams

Deliver comprehensive assessments, treatment, and care to adults within the community who are experiencing severe mental health problems. Treatment for conditions including severe mood disorders, anxiety and psychosis. This can include managing medication, talking therapies (like CBT), recovery and staying well for work.

Based at

• Inchkeith House
• Craigroyston Health Centre
• Cambridge Street House
• Ballenden House.

Community treatment and care (CTAC)

Supports people registered with one of our 70 GP practices in 19 clinics around Edinburgh. This includes

• wound care
• suture/staple removal
• doppler ABPI assessment
• ear care
• catheterisation
• non-routine vaccinations.

Based in 11 sites in Edinburgh with 19 clinics.

Diabetes – Edinburgh Community Diabetes Service

Acts as an interface between primary and secondary care diabetes services. Visit people at home to provide advice and guidance about their diabetes management. Aimed at people with poorly controlled diabetes and those at high risk of hospital admission.

A city-wide service based at Blackford Pavilion at the Astley Ainsley Hospital.

District nursing

Delivers nursing care to people in their own home or in a homely setting who are housebound or unable to access nursing services at their GP surgery due to health reasons. The district nursing philosophy is to maximise the health potential of individuals and carers. They also promote independence and self-management, and identify and respond to wider health and social care needs of communities. Here are some of their key roles:

• give expert clinical advice
• holistic nursing assessment
• manage and support frailty
• support with long-term conditions
• health promotion and education
• palliative and end of life care
• anticipatory care planning
• complex case management
• working collaboratively with and across multi-disciplinary teams, and multi-professional and agency teams to promote a joint approach to person-centred care.

Edinburgh vaccination team

Health and social care partnerships took over responsibility for delivering vaccinations after changes to the GMS (general medical practitioner) contract in Scotland.

The team is responsible for supporting many vaccination programmes, for example:

• influenza
• shingles
• pneumococcal
• COVID
• RSV
• non-routine vaccinations.

The team also works closely with the Public Health team to respond to any outbreaks.

Hospital at home

Deliver assessment and treatment of frail older people in their own home or homely setting in the short term. Prevent unscheduled hospital admission, by providing the same level of acute care. Support early discharge from hospital for patients who need ongoing medical input. Treatment includes the administration of IV antibiotics and more.

Hospital based complex clinical care (HBCCC)

Specialises in caring for people with complex needs.

Gives an initial six week assessment of complex needs, and palliative and end of life care. Also specialises in supporting older people with functional mental health issues.

Based at Ellens Glen House (Hawthorn ward and Thistle ward) and Ferryfield House.

Hospital to home

Works in partnership with our locality teams and in collaboration with NHS Lothian, primary care, voluntary and third sector services to support people to stay longer at home. This includes

• assessing, planning, providing, managing, monitoring and evaluating nursing care
• following best practice to meet the requirements of people with nursing needs in a community setting, including administration of medication, wound management, IV antibiotic therapy at home, end of life and palliative care
• building on capacity within the organisation and providing a service for those patients who have a confirmed start date for provision of care and bridge the gap by allowing earlier discharge home
• support the prevention of admission for patients entering crisis or end of life by delivering short term care to support them to remain at home.

IMPACT team

A nurse led team. Supports people to self-manage their long term conditions, multimorbidity and frailty. Focus is on supported self-management of mainly respiratory and cardiac disease. Helps people, as well as their carers and families, to recognise signs and symptoms of their health getting worse.

Uses customised care planning to empower people to react in good time and escalate concerns appropriately. In so doing so, help people avoid unnecessary hospitalisation. Focus on person centeredness and promoting future care planning as a matter of priority.

Integrated older people’s service (IOPS)

Supports frail older people at home or close to home.

Based at the day hospital hub and Hospital at Home.

Intermediate care

For people over 65 who are either unable to remain at home, or return home, after illness or injury. Offers a period of recovery with rehabilitation and reablement to enable people to return home with complex discharge planning.

Based in Liberton Hospital (wards 1, 2 and 4) and Findlay House (Fillieside ward).

Older adult community mental health teams

Delivers specialist mental health assessment and care/treatment for older adults who are experiencing severe mental health problems. This includes dementia or cognitive problems, mood disorders, anxiety and psychosis.

Based at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, West Pilton Gardens, and Marchhall House (memory assessment team).

Practice mental health nursing team

Embedded in GP surgeries across the city. Uses specialist clinical knowledge in decision making and clinical judgments from initial assessment to care planning.

Gives specialist advice to the primary care team about managing patient conditions by the assessment, treatment, and review planning process in partnership with the patient/carer.

Psychiatry of old age

A specialist dementia unit giving care to minimise feelings of confusion, anxiety and distress.

Based in Ferryfield House Hospital (Willow Ward), Findlay House Hospital (Prospect bank)

Substance misuse team

Supports people struggling with substance misuse, including alcohol and drug addiction. Includes

• harm reduction strategies
• detoxification support
• individual and group therapy
• relapse prevention
• connection to long-term support networks.

Based at

• Spittal Street (Central Clinic)
• Links Place
• Craigroyston Health Centre
• Wester Hailes Healthy Living Centre
• Ballenden House

Get in touch

To find out more about the different areas of nursing and what each role involves, email loth.nurserecruitmentehscp@nhs.scot