Community Nursing Service (NHS Western Isles)

Community Nursing teams consist of skilled nurses who have responsibility for the assessment, planning, provision and evaluation of appropriate programmes of nursing, anticipatory care and case management. The service provides home visits as appropriate, mainly to housebound patients. Some Community Nursing Service teams are aligned to a GP Practice while others may be geographically located, caring for patients from more than one GP Practice.

Community nursing teams in Lewis work 08.30am-4.30pm seven days a week. There is a nurse on duty on the Twilight shift within each area from 12 30pm-8.30pm Monday to Friday.

Please note that occasionally due to sickness and staffing issues the Twilight shift 12.30pm-8.30pm may have to be cancelled at short notice. Cover will be provided by one of the team doing an on-call shift until 8pm. Contact can be made through Western Isles Hospital between 4.30pm-8.30pm Monday to Friday via (01851) 704704. During Saturday to Sunday please contact NHS24, freephone 111.

Community Unscheduled Care Nurse (CUCN) provide an out-of-hours service from 8pm-08.30am (contact NHS24 freephone 111) to support the GPs and housebound patients and/or patients at home. We offer:

• 24 hour nursing services across the Western Isles
• an individual assessment of patient need, implementation and evaluation of prescribed care
• completion of a single shared assessment and referral to other agencies
• long-term condition management, education and self management support
• wound assessment and treatment
• promotion of continence; assessment and treatment of incontinence and, if appropriate prescription of continence aids
• palliative and end of life care, family support
• administration of specific/ specialised treatments such as intravenous antibiotic therapy at home, depending on an individual assessment
• anticipatory care / rehabilitation
• support and education of family and /or formal carers
• out-of-hours nursing care e.g. crisis and end of life intervention
• complex or acute care at home
• health promotion and lifestyle advice

Patients can be referred by:

• other health professionals e.g. from hospital or GP surgery
• the patient themselves, their family or friend
• social work and homecare services