Together in Health

02/10/2025

The East Lothian IJB Health & Social Care Partnership - Annual Report is now available. No mention of Edington and Belhaven Cottage Hospital and MIU closures in this years report or last years report. Perhaps it didn't seem important?

Unsurprisingly, East Lothian’s position declined for A&E attendances; and more significantly in relation to delayed discharges - up from 3574 to 8057 days lost from delayed discharge.

Now that ward 5 & 6 have been handed to Lothian for orthopaedic rehabilitation and Astley Ainslie this means the previous contention that ELCH has enough beds to last till 2034 has been totally destroyed.

02/10/2025

We strongly encourage individual responses to the consultation if you have the time and space to do this. The more feedback they receive, the louder the voice from the rural East Lothian (NBCA and D&EL)
E.g do you think there is enough emphasis on the rural areas and access to acute services?
Do you think there needs to be an increase in care of elderly places and beds in rural East Lothian since closure of Edington, Belhaven, Abbey NH and massive jump in bed days lost from delayed discharge from 3,500 to > 8,000
Do you think there needs to be more co-production between IJB and rural community rather than top down inequalities priorities?
Do you think they should have at least mentioned that they closed the two rural cottage hospitals (20 beds) and withdrew link worker funding in rural East Lothian in there recent annual report?
Do you think they need to evaluate the impact of closing these and Minor injuries unit on their priority to keep “care closer to home”?
Did changing ward 5 and 6 East Lothian Community Hospital beds to become lothian Rehab beds / Astley Ainsley - help with priority to keep East Lothian care “closer to home”?

https://eastlothianconsultations.co.uk/adult-wellbeing/ijb-strategic-plan-engagement/

Find and participate in consultations run by East Lothian Council.

30/09/2025

Gosh, this is worrying! - 800 deaths linked to long A&E waits in Scotland.

The body representing Scotland’s emergency medicine workforce says politicians must listen to staff on the frontline and act to address the crises that NHS consultants and their teams are facing day in day out. Launching their

27/09/2025

Congratulations and Kudos to NB Health Centre who were recognised in a recent meeting of Carers of East Lothian Charity as leading the way in highlighting their information in their surgery so that carers knew what help was available.
Well done and thank you! 🙌👏👏

27/09/2025

Crucial charity - just wanted to highlight how they partnered with TIH, RNLI, NB Health Centre and Out of Hours GP members pull together to provide CPR and Defib training. It’s been truly remarkable! They give their time and experience free to keep you safer.

25/09/2025

Length of time people have to wait for non-emergency ambulance is a problem, esp if there is discomfort or are in inappropriate surroundings such as outside in the street.
This is becoming a TIH topic for discussion and initiative in North Berwick Coastal Area, following recent issues and our rurality / remoteness from A&E.

Central midfielder Brooke Paterson spent five hours lying on a cold, damp pitch in Cumbernauld waiting for an ambulance.

23/09/2025

Over 2000 patients waited over 8 hours in Scotland. Our A&Es are full and overflowing - part of the problem is “exit block” and money needs to go to Community! Re-instate intermediate care beds to help “exit block and focus on improving minor injury services in community to minimise numbers requiring to travel to Edinburgh from NBCA

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine found that 76,510 people waited more than 12 hours in emergency departments last year.

22/09/2025

If walking up the Law, at the break in the wall coming from carpark a couple of dogs stood on a wasps nest (bottom of photo to right of railing) - both dogs badly stung. Be careful!

20/09/2025

Four years since the Edington beds closed “temporarily” and staff redistributed to ELCH.
Where do NBCA residents requiring local intermediate care beds go now? Time for resome research and FOI request perhaps?

https://www.eastlothiancourier.com/news/19553547.north-berwick-doctors-saddened-edington-hospital-temporarily-close-inpatient-work-admissions/

DOCTORS in North Berwick say they are "saddened" after being told that the town's Edington Cottage Hospital is to temporarily close to all…

18/09/2025

I recently read (“Bowling Alone -RD Putnam”) that the life expectancy benefit of joining a group eg walking group or society that meets at least monthly is equivalent to the life expectancy benefit of a smoker stopping smoking! Great initiative!

NEW walking group starting in Tranent in partnership with Fa'side Community Kitchen - FCK.

There is still time to book your place so why not get in touch now?!

Everyone and all abilities welcome!

18/09/2025

NBHS - could we arrange CPR / Defib for schools ?

Could be North Berwick High School. There is plenty support to help achieve this through SALFS, St Andrews First Aid, and ‘Together in Health’ the local NBCA Health & Social Care Charity.

18/09/2025

This is a massive challenge for a great local charity. Well done Nick for being an inspiration and taking it on - leading from the front. 🙌

🚨 INSANE CHALLENGE ALERT! 🚨
Local legend Nick is basically climbing Everest 🏔️ to raise funds for NBYP… okay, not actual Everest, but hear this:
He’s taking on the massive challenge of climbing North Berwick Law ⛰️ 64 times in 36 hours — that’s the equivalent height of Mount Everest! 😱💪🤯
Nick’s goal? To raise £1 for every metre climbed – with every single penny going directly to NBYP 🙌
Why does it matter? Because as a small, youth-focused charity, NBYP relies entirely on fundraising to keep doing what we do best – supporting young people across the NB coastal area 💛
We desperately need unreserved funds so we can react quickly when young people need us most. Your support means everything 🙏
➡️ Please head over to Nick’s JustGiving page to donate (Link below and in comments)
or if you can’t donate, a share goes a long way too! 💥
Let’s get behind Nick and smash this goal! 👊🔥


https://www.justgiving.com/page/nick-mccashin-ultra-dad

https://youtu.be/u1uIci-B9SI?si=wQXiuTJwUKYdeuJ_