District nursing

The Lewisham district nursing service provides skilled nursing care in the borough of Lewisham for people who are temporarily or permanently housebound. In Greenwich, the district nursing service is provided by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust.

We provide care in people’s homes and in residential care homes 365 days a year from 9am to 10.30pm.

The Lewisham district nursing teams are led by a Neighbourhood Nurse Lead who is a registered nurse with additional specialist district nurse training. Within the team there are Community Nursing Sisters, Community Staff Nurses, Primary Care Assistant Practitioners, Health Care Assistants and an administrator.

All the nurses work closely with GPs, social services and specialist teams, such as tissue viability and continence nurses.

How to access the service

You may be referred by your GP, or when you are discharged from hospital. Referrals may be made by all health and social care professionals, relatives and you can  self-refer to the district service if you are housebound and have a nursing need.

District Nursing Contact Details

Single Point of Access

Out of Hours District Nursing Service

  • Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 5pm to 10.30pm
  • Saturday, Sunday and Bank holidays: 9.00am to 10.30pm
  • Contact Emergency Bed Service (EBS) 0207 403 7771

What will happen at your visits?

Once your referral has been received by the team, we will contact you to arrange a visit. All nurses wear a uniform and an ID badge with their photo on it which they will present at each visit

The nurse will assess and discuss your needs and agree a care plan with you and your carer if you would like them involved. Your nursing records will be left in your home between visits. At the end of your period of care from the nurses these records will be collected from your home and stored securely in the archiving facility.

The nurses should arrange to see you within a two hour time slot. If there are any changes to your appointment due to unforeseen circumstances, a member of the team will contact you.

If you need to change or cancel you visit please call the Single Point of Access  on 020 8314 7777.

You will be discharged from the service when:

  • your care / treatment  is complete
  • you can start attending you GP practice or Practice Nurse
  • you are no longer housebound.

However if you need nursing care again in the future your GP will contact us and we will arrange a visit for you.

Working together

If the district nursing team is not able to meet your needs and you require specialist care you will be referred to the appropriate service.

Please make sure that your home is safe for the nurses to attend and deliver care that is required. We expect to work in an environment that is smoke free, and that we are not exposed to any verbal and/or physical aggression.

If you have pets (such as dogs and cats) please remove them from the room you are going to have treatment in.

If at any time you are unhappy with the service please do tell the nurse providing the care. Alternatively you can contact the Neighbourhood Nurse Manager (Operational Manager) through the Single Point of Access or if you would rather talk to someone independent of the service you can raise any concerns or make comments through the Trust’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

We always aim to provide excellent care and meet the needs of patients. We welcome feedback so we know what works and where improvements need to be made. If you would like to give feedback about your treatment or stay in hospital, please contact PALS on 020 8836 4592 or email LG.pals@nhs.net. For more information please ask your nurse.