NHS Lothian

One of 14 regions of NHS Scotland

NHS Lothian

Type| NHS board
Established| 2001 (2001)
Headquarters| Mainpoint
102 Westport
Edinburgh
EH3 9DN [1]
Region served|

* East Lothian
* Edinburgh
* Midlothian
* West Lothian

Population| 897,770
Staff| 21,921 (2019/20)[2]
Website| www.nhslothian.scot

NHS Lothian is one of the 14 regions of NHS Scotland. It provides healthcare services in the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian council areas. Its headquarters are at Mainpoint 102 Westport, Edinburgh.

## Services

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It is responsible for the care provided by around 29,000 staff at a number of locations:[3]

* 21 hospitals, including four major teaching hospitals
* 126 GP practices
* 180 community pharmacies
* 173 dental practices
* 112 ophthalmic practices

## Community Health Partnerships

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The Edinburgh Community Health Partnership (CHP) has responsibilities around delivering community health services and also addressing inequalities in Edinburgh for NHS Lothian.[4]

When the CHPs were established in 2005 they provided a single management structure, taking over control of community services which were transferred under their control.[5] On 1 April 2007, Edinburgh Community Health Partnership was formed by the merging of 2 CHPs: Edinburgh North and Edinburgh South.[6]

## NHS Lothian's Accident and Emergency

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Accident and emergency departments are located within the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, St. John's Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children. Performance has been rated the poorest in Scotland. Only 89.4 per cent of emergency patients were treated or admitted within four hours in November 2017.[7]

## Minor Injury Dept

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The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Western General Hospital have nurse-practitioner led Minor Injury Units. They are open every day of the year and treat bone breaks, dislocations sprains, wounds and burns. The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh's Minor Injury Unit also treat eye problems. They are an alternative to Accident and Emergency departments and helps to appropriately treat patients whilst helping to reduce unnecessary A & E attendance.

## Hospitals

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### City of Edinburgh

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* Astley Ainslie Hospital
* Chalmers Hospital
* Corstorphine Hospital
* Ellen's Glen House
* Ferryfield House
* Lauriston Building
* Leith Community Treatment Centre
* Liberton Hospital
* Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion
* Royal Edinburgh Hospital
* Royal Hospital for Sick Children
* Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
* Western General Hospital

### East Lothian

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* Belhaven Hospital, Dunbar
* Edington Cottage Hospital, North Berwick
* Herdmanflat Hospital, Haddington
* Roodlands General Hospital, Haddington | Now East Lothian Community Hospital, Haddington

### Midlothian

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* Midlothian Community Hospital, Bonnyrigg

### West Lothian

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* St John's Hospital, Livingston
* St Michael's Hospital, Linlithgow
* Tippethill House Hospital, Whitburn

|

## Headquarters

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NHS Lothian was based at the Deaconess House until 2010 when it moved to Waverley Gate, an office development within the facade of the former General Post Office in the centre of Edinburgh.[8] In 2025 NHS Lothian moved it's Headquarters (HQ) from Waverley Gate to Mainpoint 102 Westport, Edinburgh.

## History

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NHS Lothian was, Edinburgh. established in 2001 as the 'umbrella' organisation for all Lothian health services. There were also three NHS trusts operating in the area - Lothian University Hospitals, Lothian Primary Care and West Lothian Healthcare. The dissolution of these bodies in 2003-2004 meant that NHS Lothian would act as a single health authority, overseeing the planning and delivery of all the region's local health services.[9]

In 2023, the health board of NHS Lothian publicly announced that they would be providing reparations for slavery after discovering that the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh owned a slave plantation in Jamaica from 1750 to 1893 (with slavery being abolished on the island in 1833). The plantation, known as Red Hill Pen, was left to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh through the will of Scottish surgeon Archibald Kerr along with 39 slaves. According to the BBC, the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh used the wealth generated from Red Hill Pen to "buy medicines, construct a new building, employ staff, and heal Edinburgh's "sick poor"."[10]

## Performance

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Between April 2014 and February 2015 the board paid out almost £8 million to private hospitals for the treatment of more than 4,500 patients in order to meet waiting time targets.[11] In an attempt to comply with the Scottish Treatment Time Guarantee, a 12-week target for inpatient or day-case patients waiting for treatment, the board spent £11.3 million on private hospital treatment for NHS patients in 2013-14.[12]

## References

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1. ^ "Our Organisation". NHS Lothian. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
2. ^ "Annual Report and Accounts Year ended 31st March 2020" (PDF). NHS Lothian. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
3. ^ "Locations". NHS Lothian. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
4. ^ "Community: Edinburgh CHP". NHS Lothian. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
5. ^ "Changes to cut health service bureaucracy on way". The Scotsman. 6 February 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
6. ^ "Products and services: GPD Support: Geography". Information Services Division Scotland. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
7. ^ BBC Check NHS cancer, A&E and operations targets in your area, accessed 24 January 2018
8. ^ "A brief look at the history of the Deaconess Hospital, Edinburgh, 1894–1990" (PDF). Journal of the Royal College of Physicians. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
9. ^ "Our organisation: About us". NHS Lothian. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
10. ^ "NHS Lothian to make amends for slave ownership in 18th Century". BBC News. 5 October 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
11. ^ "NHS spends millions in private sector despite SNP 'clampdown'". Herald Scotland. 18 April 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
12. ^ "NHS Lothian's £1m a month private hospital bill". Edinburgh News. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to NHS Lothian.

* Official website

* v
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* e

NHS Lothian

Hospitals|

| East Lothian|

* Belhaven Hospital
* Edington Cottage Hospital

|

Edinburgh|

* Astley Ainslie Hospital
* Chalmers Hospital
* Ellen's Glen House
* Ferryfield House
* Lauriston Building
* Leith Community Treatment Centre
* Liberton Hospital
* Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion
* Royal Edinburgh Hospital
* Royal Hospital for Children and Young People
* Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
* Western General Hospital

Midlothian|

* Midlothian Community Hospital

West Lothian|

* St John's Hospital
* Tippethill House Hospital

Closed|

* St Michael's Hospital
* Corstorphine Hospital
* Herdmanflat Hospital
* Royal Hospital for Sick Children
* Roodlands General Hospital

* v
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NHS Scotland

Regional health boards|

* Ayrshire and Arran
* Borders
* Dumfries and Galloway
* Fife
* Forth Valley
* Grampian
* Greater Glasgow and Clyde
* Highland
* Lanarkshire
* Lothian
* Orkney
* Shetland
* Tayside
* Western Isles

Special health boards|

* The National Waiting Times Centre Board
* Healthcare Improvement Scotland
* NHS 24
* NHS Education for Scotland
* NHS National Services Scotland
* Public Health Scotland
* Scottish Ambulance Service
* State Hospitals Board for Scotland

Scotland portal

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
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National|

* United States

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