This page relates to ADULT VACCINATIONS.
Routine Immunisation of Children and Young People are provided by Children’s Teams based in the 4 HSCPs and the Community Vaccination Team – please see:
Children and Young People Vaccinations
Please note that GP’s do not provide vaccination services and patients should not be referred to their GP’s for these: clinicians seeing patients should advise them of the following services.
NHS Lothian HSCP Vaccination Service – ADULTS
The Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) Vaccination Service provides a variety of vaccination and immunisation services for adults in Lothian. These include:
- Routine vaccinations: flu, pneumococcal, RSV and shingles.
- COVID-19 vaccinations.
- ‘Missed’ childhood vaccinations (up to the age of 25).
- Additional vaccinations for people with underlying medical conditions.
HSCP Vaccination Teams do not provide the following services:
- Travel Vaccination: Offered by the Travel Service.
- Mpox Vaccination: Offered by the Sexual Health Service.
- Rabies Post-Exposure Treatment: Available by rabies pathway.
- Private Vaccination Requests: Offered by private providers.
- BCG: offered by Community Vaccination Team (CVT).
- Pertussis, flu and RSV during pregnancy: Offered by Maternity.
- Hepatitis B for babies of mothers with Hepatitis B: Offered by 0-5 Vaccination Teams.
Routine Vaccinations
- It is not necessary for clinicians to submit a referral form for routine vaccinations (flu, pneumococcal, shingles, RSV & COVID-19). The service will contact patients directly if they are eligible.
- Eligibility is determined based on age or clinical coding. New files of eligible people are shared with the Vaccination Service regularly. If the patient’s clinical coding is correct, they will be called forward.
- For “missed” childhood vaccinations (up to age 25), patients can be directed to call the NHS Lothian Vaccination Enquiries Helpline on 0300 790 6296.
Please see the Green Book for schedules for routine adult immunisations (chapter 11).
Additional Vaccines for Individuals with Underlying Medical Conditions
Clinicians can use of the Non-Routine Vaccines Form to request vaccination individuals who require:
- Expedited Vaccination
- COVID-19, flu, pneumococcal, RSV or shingles vaccinations may be expedited to coincide with other treatment such as chemotherapy, or to be administered before anticipated immunosuppression.
- Follow-up / Completion Doses:
- For individuals who have received emergency vaccination post-exposure (e.g. tetanus, Hepatitis B).
- Other Non-Routine vaccinations:
- For people with underlying medical conditions as per Green Book guidance (note: referral is not required for pneumococcal or flu for these patients).
- Revaccination Programmes
- Following Stem Cell Transplant: As per agreed processes with the service, with Patient Specific Direction (PSD) in place.
For general enquiries regarding Vaccination in Lothian, contact the NHS Lothian Vaccination Enquiries Helpline on 0300 790 6296.
When to use the Unscheduled Immunisation Referral Form
Clinicians can make use of the Non-Routine-Vaccines-Form-V18-NH.docx to request vaccination of individuals who require:
- Expedited vaccination of flu, Covid, shingles or pneumococcal to co-ordinate delivery with other treatment such as chemotherapy, or to administer in advance of anticipated immunosuppression.
- Follow-up/completion doses for individuals who have received emergency vaccination post exposure (e.g. Tetanus, Hepatitis B)
- Other non-routine, vaccination schedules for individuals with underlying medical conditions as per Green Book guidance (referral is not required for pneumococcal or flu for these patients).
- Revaccination programmes following Stem Cell Transplant (as per agreed processes with service with Patient Specific Directions [PSD] in place)
- Revaccination of children following cancer treatment (as per agreed processes with service with PSDs in place)
NB: Please note that any referral that is not in line with routine vaccination schedules as outlined in the Green Book and covered on the attached form or previously agreed with services cannot currently be delivered in line with a Patient Group Directions (PGD); as a result, the referral form must be accompanied by a PSD.
The referral form will need to be sent to the relevant HSCP as each partnership is responsible for administering vaccinations of their residents. Please note the contact emails in the referral form are for professional use only.
For secondary care clinicians advising that a patient requires immunisation on account of an identified risk, please do not write to the patient’s GP, but instead refer the patient directly to the HSCP using the Unscheduled Immunisation Referral Form.
Where confirmation is needed of which HSCP area your patient lives in, please use the postcode lookup below:
If you would like to contact the HSCPs, please check the addresses:
| HSCP | Adult inbox |
|---|---|
| East Lothian | loth.elvaccinationenquiry@nhs.scot |
| Edinburgh | loth.ehscpctacvaccinationreferrals@nhs.scot |
| Midlothian | loth.midlothianvaccines@nhs.scot |
| West Lothian | loth.wlhscpvaccinationenquiry@nhs.scot |
| HSCP | Children’s inbox |
|---|---|
| East Lothian | loth.elvaccinationenquiry@nhs.scot |
| Edinburgh | 0-5: loth.edinburghvaccinationteam@nhs.scot 6-18: loth.ehscpctacvaccinationreferrals@nhs.scot |
| Midlothian | loth.midlothianvaccines@nhs.scot |
| West Lothian | loth.wlhscpvaccinationenquiry@nhs.scot |
If you have any other immunisation questions, please contact: Loth.PHImmunisationQueries@nhs.scot
