This page relates to ADULT VACCINATIONS. Please also see our separate CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S VACCINATION page too.
NHS Lothian HSCP Vaccination Service – ADULTS
Following the transfer of vaccination activity from General Practice in 2022, the Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) in Edinburgh, East, Mid- and West Lothian are now responsible for the provision of the following services:
- The delivery of the routine immunisation schedules for adults.
- The delivery of the routine COVID-19 immunisation schedules as directed by CMO letter to those aged 5 and over.
- The delivery of the routine influenza immunisation programme as directed by CMO letter
- The revaccination of individuals who have received stem cell or solid organ transplant, revaccination of children post chemotherapy.
- The delivery of ‘missed’ childhood vaccinations to individuals who have left school and are aged 24 or under, or missed schools-based programmes and associated mop up programmes hosted by CVT.
- The delivery of additional vaccinations for individuals with underlying medical conditions e.g. post splenectomy.
- Course completions for individuals who have received emergency vaccination post exposure (e.g. Tetanus, Hepatitis B).
- Vaccination in response to outbreak in partnership with Health Protection.
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 https://apps.nhslothian.scot/refhelp/vaccination-services/
HSCP Vaccination Teams do not provide the following services:
- Vaccinations for Travel https://weare.nhslothian.scot/travelclinics/
- Vaccinations recommended for Occupational Health reasons
- Mpox (Monkeypox) https://www.lothiansexualhealth.scot/monkeypox-information/
- Sexual Health Vaccination https://www.lothiansexualhealth.scot/
- Infectious Disease vaccination (e.g rabies pre/post exposure): Regional Infectious Diseases Unit – NHS Lothian | Our Services
- Private vaccination requests – (should direct to private provider)
- New vaccination programmes not yet agreed by CMO
- Vaccination requests not originally covered by the GMS contract
- Selective immunisation programmes such as:
- BCG – Covered by Community Vaccination Teams
- Pertussis & flu during pregnancy – covered by Maternity Services
- Hepatitis B for babies born to Hepatitis B infected mothers – covered by 0-5 Vaccination Team.
Routine Vaccinations
For vaccinations which form part of the routine schedule i.e. age-based childhood vaccination programme, flu, Covid, shingles and pneumococcal, it is not necessary for clinicians to submit a referral form. Eligible patients are identified based on their age or clinical coding at the start of each programme, with refreshed cohort files being supplied to the board by NES every 12 weeks for pneumococcal. If the patient’s clinical coding is correct, they will be called forward.
Please note that the routine programme for shingles and pneumococcal is deprioritised during the delivery of the seasonal COVID-19 / flu programme.
Routine Immunisation for Adults
(For childhood and young people’s immunisations – please see https://apps.nhslothian.scot/refhelp/vaccination-services/)
NHS Lothian is responsible for organising pneumococcal, shingles and flu vaccinations for its eligible population and is also responsible for contacting eligible groups to invite them to receive a vaccination.
Please note that the routine vaccination of shingles and pneumococcal is de-prioritised during the delivery of the flu / COVID-19 Programme.
Please see the Green Book for schedules for routine adult immunisations (chapter 11):
Immunisation against infectious disease – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
COVID-19 Vaccination for Adults
NHS Lothian is responsible for delivering the COVID-19 Vaccination to eligible groups.
HPV Vaccines
Please see the paediatric vaccination page for further detail about the HPV programme.
Missed Childhood Immunisations
Please see https://apps.nhslothian.scot/refhelp/vaccination-services/
Individuals who have left school and have missed childhood immunisations can self-refer for these up to the day before their 25th birthday by contacting the NHS Lothian Vaccination Helpline 0300 790 6296.
Additional Vaccines for Individuals with Underlying Medical Conditions
Referral forms are not required for patients in certain groups to be offered the pneumococcal or flu vaccine. If clinical coding is updated in GP clinical records, patients will be called forward routinely for vaccination by NHS Lothian.
For information regarding these specific groups, see Green Book (chapters 7 and 25): Immunisation against infectious disease – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
When to use the Unscheduled Immunisation Referral Form
Clinicians can make use of the Unscheduled Immunisation Referral Form 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@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk | ||
| Edinburgh | loth.ehscpctacvaccinationreferrals@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk | ||
| Midlothian | loth.midlothianvaccines@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk | ||
| West Lothian | loth.wlhscpvaccinationenquiry@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk |
| HSCP | Children inbox | ||
| East Lothian | loth.elvaccinationenquiry@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk | ||
| Edinburgh | 0-5: loth.edinburghvaccinationteam@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk | ||
| 6-18: loth.ehscpctacvaccinationreferrals@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk | |||
| Midlothian | loth.midlothianvaccines@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk | ||
| West Lothian | loth.wlhscpvaccinationenquiry@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk |
If you have any other immunisation questions, please contact:Loth.PHImmunisationQueries@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
