St John's Hospital, Livingston

St John's Hospital
NHS Lothian
Geography
Location Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom
Organisation
Care system NHS Lothian
Hospital type General Hospital and A&E
Affiliated university University of Edinburgh Medical School
Services
Emergency department Yes Accident & Emergency
Beds 550 [1]
History
Founded 1989
Links
Website NHS Lothian Website
Lists Hospitals in Scotland

St John's Hospital is the main general hospital in Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland. Located in the Howden area of the town, it serves Livingston, west Edinburgh, and the wider West Lothian region.[1] St John's is one of three hospitals run by NHS Lothian which have accident and emergency services. St John's has special status as a teaching hospital for the University of Edinburgh Medical School.[2]

History

Bangour General Hospital, near Dechmont to the north of Livingston, was the main hospital in the West Lothian area from 1939. Bangour had been built as an annexe of the village hospital, which had specialised in psychiatry. The Livingston Development Corporation(LDC), which oversaw the development of the new town of Livingston from 1962, had planned to move the general hospital to Livingston from around 1974. The new hospital was opened in 1989, by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Bangour General Hospital was closed in the early 1990s.[3]

Facilities

Hospital Services

The current facilities at St John's include a recently renovated accident and emergency ward, and a large maternity unit, where around 2,500 babies are born annually.[2] The radiology department uses a trust-wide PACS system, complete with 2 digital screening rooms, spiral CT, 4 ultrasound machines and a gamma camera.[1] St John's contains many specialist services for south east Scotland, including oral and maxillofacial, burns and plastic surgery units.[2][4] The hospital is being promoted as the main regional centre for elective surgery, and as a centre for minimally invasive surgery. This centre, supported by University of Edinburgh professors, will provide Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgery, orthopaedic surgery, and urology.[4] The ENT in patient facility formerly based in Edinburgh has been relocated and amalgamated with the ENT services already located at St John's and serving West lothian, with the intention of merging it with the existing head and neck unit, to form another regional centre.[2] The improvements will see 4,500 patients per year being treated at St Johns.[4]

Paediatric services

There is a paediatric ward within the hospital, but this was temporarily closed to in-patients over July and August 2015. This was due to staffing issues. Despite re-opening on August 17 2015, NHS Lothian decided to review the service. The review is scheduled for early summer 2016, and will be carried out by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. The ward underwent a similar part closure in 2012.[5]

Hospital Radio

Radio Grapevine is the hospital radio station, which has been broadcasting to the main buildings of the hospital since 1991. They are a recognised Scottish registered charity. Patients, staff, family and friends can listen to this Award Winning station dedicated to patient entertainment online via the Radio Grapevine website. They were the first Scottish hospital radio service to broadcast online. Patients can enjoy a dedicated request programme 7 nights a week through their bedside units, day rooms or online. [6]

Howden Health Centre

Howden Health Centre, is located within the hospital grounds, but predates the hospital by several years. It is a community health centre, and provides a range of health services for the local population. As well as accommodating a large NHS medical practice,[7] there is a Family Planning clinic, Genitourinary Medicine clinic, Community Pharmacy, District Nursing team, and Health Visitor team based in the building.

Transportation

St John's Hospital is very well linked by public transport in the area, with most buses within Livingston calling at St John's at some point in their route. It has links with Uphall, Broxburn, all parts of Livingston, Pumpherston, Mid Calder, East Calder, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Airport, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Ocean Terminal, Linlithgow, Bathgate and more.

It is 1.5 miles from Livingston North train station, which provides links to Bathgate, Edinburgh, Airdrie, and Glasgow via the recently reopened Airdrie-Bathgate line.

It has a large car park which along with all NHS-run hospitals in Scotland had its parking charges abolished on 31 December 2008.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "St John's Hospital Livingston" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-04-01.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "St John's Hospital at Howden". NHS Lothian. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  3. ↑ "Bangour General Hospital". Archived from the original on 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
  4. 1 2 3 NHS Lothian (24 November 2004). "Secure Future for St John's" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-04-01.
  5. ↑ "St John's Hospital children's ward to be reviewed despite reopening". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  6. ↑ "About us". Radio Grapevine. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  7. ↑ Howden Medical Group

Coordinates: 55°53′31″N 3°31′23″W / 55.89194°N 3.52306°W / 55.89194; -3.52306

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