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Care Experienced Medical Team

· Feb 3, 2026 ·

Information for parents and children

The care experienced medical team consists of paediatricians (children’s doctors) across each area in Lothian who look after care experienced children and young people.

Children may be care experienced if they are living in foster care, in kinship care (with a family member or friend) or if they are still at home and have a supervision order in place through the children’s hearing system. The care experienced medical team are community paediatricians which means that they are doctors who have expertise in child health and development.

Children who are care experienced will often have a social worker and the paediatricians in the team work closely with the social work team to ensure that children’s health needs are met. The paediatricians in the team may also support the care experienced nursing team if there is concern about a child’s health.

The care experienced medical team currently includes the following team members :

Dr Alison McLuckie (Lead paediatrician for care experienced children and young people NHS Lothian)
Dr Barbara Stewart
Dr Rachel Noble
Dr Jillian Dawson
Dr Claire Sumner
Dr Jane Hailey
Dr Najla Elhaj

Vision and Development team

· Nov 11, 2025 ·

The Visual Function clinic is a specialist clinic for children with a known or suspected visual impairment. We provide a specialist assessment of a child’s visual function (how they use their vision on a day-to-day basis) taking into account their overall development. We will make practical recommendations to help the child at home and/or school and referral to specialist services when appropriate.

We work closely with local services when providing advice and support for parents.

two girls reading a boox, sitting on a lounge with their parents.

Members of the team

The team members involved in the clinic include a developmental paediatrician, an orthoptist and a teacher with additional training in supporting children and young people with a visual impairment.

The team all have expertise in assessing, understanding and supporting the development and progress of children with a visual impairment.

Who we see

Children and young people with a visual impairment
Children of all ages with suspected cerebral visual impairment, to provide vision and developmental assessment to clarify such difficulties, their impact, and the potential overlaps with other areas of developmental difficulty. A diagnosis of cerebral visual impairment will be given where appropriate.

Community Paediatrics

· Sep 18, 2025 ·

Paediatricians are doctors who look after babies, children and young people. In community paediatrics, we are a team of doctors who look after children and young people who have developmental difficulties and disability. There are also some advanced practitioners who are not doctors who are working with us too. We work closely with other people who look after children including GPs, hospital doctors, health visitors, school nurses, psychologists nurses and therapists such as physiotherapy, speech and language or occupational therapy. We also work together with lots of other people who work with children like teachers and social workers. This helps is assess children and understand their needs and how to support children and their families.

Some of our paediatricians work in the care experienced team (link here to that part of the website) who support children and their health needs who need to live away from their family permanently.

All of our doctors also work in child protection service (link to that part of website here). We work with other people supporting children to support anyone who may have been abused or neglected. We might see children for medical assessment in the Acorn Suite (link to that part of website).

We take a rights-based approach to all areas of our work and operate within the Scottish Government’s ‘Getting It Right For Every Child’ (GIRFEC) framework which is based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Visit the Neurodiversity page for information on supports and services available within NHS Lothian and the wider community, along with practical advice and links to help you take your next steps with confidence.

Plastic Dressings Clinic

· Feb 11, 2025 ·

Introduction

The Plastic Dressings Clinic (PDC) is a nurse-led outpatient clinic based in the

Royal Hospital for Children and Young People Edinburgh (RHCYP), providing specialised care for burns and a number of wounds from different specialities, including plastic surgery, orthopaedics and more. Patients are seen from across Edinburgh, the Lothian’s, Borders, Fife and beyond.

What is the plastic dressings clinic?

We are a nurse-led outpatient clinic specialising in burns and wounds from a number of different specialities including plastic surgery, orthopaedics and more.

How long will the appointment take?

Most of our appointments are 30 minutes, however if you require any scans such as x-rays, ultrasounds, photographs, reviews by doctors or physiotherapists then this may take longer.

What to expect

When you arrive in the clinic room, we will talk you through what we will be doing during the appointment, which may include removal of dressings, cleansing the wound, applying a new dressing, getting photographs taken, and going for a scan such as an x-ray, among other things.

Before you come

You may want to bring some toys/distraction tools, e.g., a tablet, soft toys, that will make your child or young person feel more at ease during their appointment. We have some distraction toys in the clinic as well.

It may also be helpful to give your child some pain relief, e.g. paracetamol or ibuprofen, an hour before their appointment to ensure they are comfortable. Please follow the instructions on the packaging for dose and frequency.

Before you go home

At the end of the appointment, we will tell you if we need to see your child or young person again or if we are referring to another multidisciplinary team member. If we need to see you again, we will make you another appointment before you leave.

Bereavement Service

· Mar 25, 2024 ·

The loss of a baby or child is a deeply sad and upsetting time. Our Bereavement Service is here to support you and your family as much as possible, guiding you through some of the practical steps that need to be taken as well as things you may wish to think about as a family together.

The Children’s Bereavement Service aims to provide a single point of contact after the death of a baby, child or young person in hospital, while being cared for by our community services or at home. We understand that this can be an overwhelming and traumatic time for parents, family members and carers. Our Rainbow Pack, written in partnership with families, includes guides and explanations for some of the steps that need to be taken after a child dies, for parents and families to read in their own time, whenever they feel ready.

Help and support from the Bereavement Service might include:

Advice and information about practical issues following bereavement, including registering a death, and arranging a funeral.
Information about bereavement support for families, including siblings.
Information about the Child Death Review programme.

How to contact us

Our Bereavement Coordinator for Children’s Services across NHS Lothian is Jennifer Pyper. Jennifer will usually make contact with a child’s parents or next of kin after a child has died. She can also be reached by telephone on 07583 138619. Please don’t be afraid to ask if you have any questions or need further information. The NHS Lothian Bereavement Service can also be contacted directly.

Bereavement support and information for families

Remembering your child

Our teams can help a family to remember their child, if they’d like to, when the time feels right. There are a number of ways that this can be done, including an entry in our Memorial Book, support from our Spiritual Care team or joining our annual Memorial Service. Find out more on the memorial page.

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