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Cardiology

· Mar 12, 2021 ·

The Cardiology department looks after children and young people with a wide variety of heart conditions, giving them specialist care and support. The services we provide include:

Paediatric Cardiology for inpatients and outpatients.
Outpatient Cardiac Clinic for children and young people.
Outreach services across the Lothian, Borders, Fife, Tayside, Grampian and Highland regions.
Fetal Cardiac Service.
Transition Service.
Family support

Babies, children and young people needing cardiac surgery and catheter intervention are referred to the Scottish Paediatric Cardiac Service based at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow.

Child Protection

· Mar 4, 2021 ·

Child Protection in the ward

Whether they work in a hospital, general practice or community setting, whether they are employed, work privately or work for a not-for-profit organisation, all staff have a responsibility to protect children and adults at risk of abuse or neglect.

The NHS Lothian, Child Protection Hub, is a team of specially trained Children’s doctors (Paediatricians) and Child Protection Advisors who work alongside dedicated administrative assistants on a single site.

We accept referrals from NHS professionals, Police and Social Care for children and young people who may have experienced physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect.
We take part in Child Protection Interagency Discussions with Police and Social Care to help protect children and young people at risk of harm.
We undertake medical examinations of children and young people when these are needed.
We are involved in supporting discharge planning meetings with families for children and young people admitted to the hospital when child protection concerns had been raised.
We may also attend Child Protection Case Conferences or Court Proceedings for Children and Young People, where we have been involved in their assessment.
NHS Lothian Paediatricians take part in a regional service for child sexual abuse through the Child Protection Managed Clinical Network for South East Scotland that covers Lothian, Borders and Fife.

We operate a 24/7 service for child protection referrals and advice. Medical examinations normally occur during the daytime unless there is an urgent need to do an examination overnight. Any child or young person who is seriously injured or unwell will be admitted to the hospital for urgent medical care.

Read more about bruising in babies Opens in new window .

The NHS Lothian, Child Protection Hub, follows the latest Scottish Government Guidance and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health evidence-based guidelines for child protection.

Asthma

· Feb 22, 2021 ·

Asthma is a common condition, affecting almost 10% of children and young people in Scotland.

The Asthma team, based at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, provides outpatient and in-patient care for children and young people with asthma and recurrent wheeze. We work with other teams and departments to diagnose and treat asthma and related conditions. The asthma clinic looks after about 300 children and young people, with many more being looked after by their GP and regular prescriptions for an inhaler to relieve their symptoms.

Asthma can be serious. We aim to prevent severe and life-threatening attacks by assessing, educating, and treating patients in the best way for them and their families. Having asthma can be worrying; symptoms can sometimes affect daily life, like going to school or playing with friends or joining a sport. With our help and support, young people and families can benefit from treatment – and preventions – to reduce the risk of asthma symptoms getting worse.

Outpatients

· Feb 19, 2021 ·

If you need to come to hospital for an appointment or a visit to clinic, you are an ‘outpatient’. Outpatients don’t need to stay overnight in hospital. You might have a check-up, a chat with a doctor, specialist nurse or someone else involved in your care, like a physiotherapist. You might also have some tests, like an x-ray, scan or blood test.

Outpatient appointments are usually at the Royal Hospital for Children & Young People, or sometimes at the Lauriston Building in Edinburgh or St. John’s Hospital near Livingston or a local health centre close to where you live. Check your appointment letter carefully so that you know where to go.

The Lauriston Building

39 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, EH3 9EN.

Epilepsy surgery

· Feb 19, 2021 ·

The Scottish Paediatric Epilepsy Surgery Service (SPESS) is a specialist service made up of experts from across Scotland who all help decide if surgery will benefit children with epilepsy.

SPESS is a ‘multi-disciplinary team’ which means many different health professionals all work together. This includes the epilepsy surgery team based in Edinburgh, and consultant paediatric neurologists, epilepsy nurse specialists, neurophysiologists, radiologists, psychologists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and physiotherapists from around the country.

The epilepsy surgery team works with local teams at district general hospitals who are involved in epilepsy care and specialists from Tayside Children’s Hospital in Dundee, the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh, and the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital in Aberdeen. Our patients can come from all over Scotland, so we try to treat young people as close to home as possible before and after any surgery. Most of the investigations are carried out locally. All surgeries and some specialist investigations take place at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh under the care of the epilepsy surgery team.

Is surgery an option for my child?

Many factors affect whether a child might benefit from epilepsy surgery. These will always be discussed individually with each family to think about the options, the potential benefits and the risks. The team understands that families will have many questions and will always make time to answer them.

Who can I talk to for more information?

Your child’s local consultant neurologist or paediatrician will be the best person to talk to about how epilepsy surgery could be an option in your child’s particular situation. Your epilepsy nurse specialist is also a very helpful source of information and guidance. Your child’s local consultant neurologist or paediatrician and epilepsy nurse specialist are all connected to the epilepsy surgery team and can ask us to get in touch with you if you need more information.

If you would like more general information about the Scottish Paediatric Epilepsy Surgery Service (SPESS) or the epilepsy surgery journey please contact:

SPESS Service Coordinator

Phone: 0131 312 0631

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The Lauriston Building

Is surgery an option for my child?

Who can I talk to for more information?

More Information

Contact NHS Lothian