{"id":21149,"date":"2024-10-09T08:40:27","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T07:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/?page_id=21149"},"modified":"2026-02-02T08:54:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T08:54:23","slug":"district-nursing-services","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/district-nursing-services\/","title":{"rendered":"District Nursing Services"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Information<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The District Nursing Service are a skilled and specialist nursing team, who deliver a wide range of nursing assessments and interventions to people in their own homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The service supports individuals to be independent, manage their long-term conditions and prevent or treat illness.&nbsp; Nursing requirements associated with disability, frailty, chronic disease management and end of life care can usually be delivered safely in a patient\u2019s home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The service provides person centred and co-ordinated care which helps prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and enables people to remain in their own home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New referral forms are being used to improve and standardise the referral process and ensure that the information that is conveyed is clear, accurate and complete. It also reduces the time spent on admin by the nurses and releases them to provide clinical care to the appropriate patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>R.C. &amp; L.C. 16-12-24<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs\" data-active-tab=\"0\"><ul class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-links\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Referral Guidelines<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who can refer:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>We will accept referrals from all health care professionals in both Primary and Secondary Care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who to refer:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>District nurses provide high quality nursing interventions to individuals who are housebound or in clinically agreed circumstances where care is best provided in their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Treatment plans will be explicitly agreed with individuals, using an evidence-based approach to help them regain maximum independence and health. Services include, but are not limited to, the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wound care assessments and care<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Administration of treatment or medication using specialist equipment, after a nursing assessment, appropriate for the DN team.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Continence assessments and care planning<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pressure area assessments and care<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Admission avoidance support which requires nursing Interventions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Health needs assessments of chronic disease management requiring generalist nursing input<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Palliative\/end-of-life care<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Health promotion for housebound patients and their carers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Assessment and appropriate provision of specialist nursing equipment for patients in their own homes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Teaching self-care procedures to enable patients, and their carers, to manage their own healthcare needs within the confines of their own home<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who not to refer:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>These include, but are not limited to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Routine bloods (including INRs) for patients who have no nursing needs that require specialist district nursing interventions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vaccinations for patients who have no nursing needs that require specialist district nursing interventions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cCheck visits\u201d without clearly identified and agreed nursing needs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Emptying or changing urine bags.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Routine skin care that does not require trained nursing skills.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Administration of eye drops, nasal or oral medication.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Filling Dosette boxes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Collecting and delivering prescriptions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Filling in medication administration charts for patients that the district nurses are not already actively seeing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Supporting people with social care needs alone. Patients who need help with personal hygiene, bathing, meals, housework, toileting, applying\/removing hosiery, getting up\/going to bed, access to day centre or respite care, should be referred directly to Social Services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How to refer:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>For <strong>Primary Care clinicians in Lothian, <\/strong>email relevant HSCP mailbox with the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Patient\u2019s details \u2013 Name, CHI Number or date of birth and patient\u2019s address.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Purpose of referral.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Urgency of the referral.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Attaching a summary sheet would be helpful to the district nurses,&nbsp;allowing&nbsp;them to&nbsp;triage and progress the referral as quickly as possible.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>East Lothian&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;    loth.eldnteams@nhs.scot<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Edinburgh: \u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002\u2002loth.edinburghdnteams@nhs.scot<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Midlothian&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;   loth.mldnteams@nhs.scot<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>West Lothian\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0wldnteamleads@nhs.scot<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For practices using Vision, the referral form below can be uploaded. Key information, such as patient demographics, should then be automatically pulled through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/District-Nurse-Referral-form-for-vision_.docx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/District-Nurse-Referral-form-for-GP using vision_.docx<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Referrals sent to the District Nurses inboxes will be triaged and processed during the hours of: Mon-Thurs 08:00-16:30 and Fri 08:00-13:00. Referrals received outside these hours are triaged and processed the next working day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the referral is urgent and needs immediate attention, or for end-of-life care, please contact the relevant district nursing team directly by telephone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For <strong>Secondary Care and all other Health Professionals<\/strong>, please complete the form below and then send an email to the relevant HSCP mailbox attaching the form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/District-Nursing-Referral-Form-LOTHIANv8-1.docx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/District-Nursing-Referral-Form-LOTHIANv8-1.docx<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/Process-for-referraing-to-district-nursing-during-the-pilot-v4-2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/Process-for-referraing-to-district-nursing-during-the-pilot-v4-2.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Primary Care Management<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Resources and Links<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/FINAL3-DN-poster-.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/FINAL3-DN-poster-.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Information The District Nursing Service are a skilled and specialist nursing team, who deliver a wide range of nursing assessments and interventions to people in their own homes. The service supports individuals to be independent, manage their long-term conditions and prevent or treat illness.&nbsp; Nursing requirements associated with disability, frailty, chronic disease management and end<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":3664,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1170],"class_list":["post-21149","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-https-apps-nhslothian-scot-refhelp-district-nursing-services"],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"heatherlevy","author_link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/author\/heatherlevy\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":" <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/category\/https-apps-nhslothian-scot-refhelp-district-nursing-services\/\" rel=\"tag\">District nursing services<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Information The District Nursing Service are a skilled and specialist nursing team, who deliver a wide range of nursing assessments and interventions to people in their own homes. The service supports individuals to be independent, manage their long-term conditions and prevent or treat illness.&nbsp; Nursing requirements associated with disability, frailty, chronic disease management and end","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21149"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26524,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21149\/revisions\/26524"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}