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 8am 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, Healthcare Assistants and an administrator.
All the nurses work closely with GPs, social services and specialist teams, such as tissue viability and continence nurses.
Contact
Single Point of Access
Phone: 020 8314 7777 option 2
Email: LH.adultreferrals@nhs.net
Opening times:
- Monday to Friday, 8am — 5pm
Out of hours district nursing service
Emergency Bed Service (EBS): 020 3162 7541.
Opening times:
- Monday to Friday, 5 — 10.30pm
- Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays: 9am to 10.30pm
How to get a referral
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 carers. You must have a Lewisham GP in order to meet our district nursing criteria.
Your appointment
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 in a blue folder 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.
If you need to change or cancel your visit please call 020 8314 7777 and select option 2.
You will be discharged from the district nursing service when:
- your care and treatment is complete
- you can start attending your GP practice or practice nurse
- you are no longer housebound.
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 our team is not able to meet your needs and you require specialist care you will be referred to an appropriate service.
Please make sure that your home is safe for the nurses to attend and deliver the care that is required. We expect to work in an environment that is smoke free, where we are not exposed to any verbal 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.
If you would rather talk to someone independent of the service, you can raise any concerns or make comments through our Patient Advice and Liaison Service.