CRITICAL CARE IN LOTHIAN
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE)
The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh is a busy 40 bedded mixed level 2/3 unit with a diverse case mix and approximately 2000 admissions each year.
There is a high acuity to the workload, with patients admitted from a busy emergency department with a wide range of emergency medical and surgical presentations.
The RIE is also home to a number of regional and national services: it is the Scottish liver transplant centre (with approximately 125 liver transplants per year) and tertiary centre for neurosciences, hepatobiliary, trauma, upper GI and vascular surgery, interventional radiology and obstetrics. The unit is unit also offers extracorporeal therapies such as ECLS and is designated a Gold centre for Excellence in life support by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organisation (ELSO)
In late 2021, the Royal Infirmary is also soon to become a major trauma centre supporting the South East Scotland major trauma network.
The unit has a strong links to the University of Edinburgh through the Edinburgh Critical Care Research Group, and is involved in the teaching of undergraduate nursing and medical students.
Western General Hospital (WGH)
The Western General Hospital is a 10 bedded mixed level 2/3 unit with approximately 750 admissions per year.
In addition to general medical admissions, the WGH houses the regional cancer and haematology centres and regional infectious diseases unit, and the busiest elective Colorectal surgery unit in Europe.
St John's Hospital (SJH)
St John's Hospital, in Livingston, has three level 3 and two level 2 beds, and admits approximately 350 patients per year.
Admissions come from a variety of sources - the hospital has a busy emergency department, an acute medical unit, a busy obstetrics unit, and also acts as the regional burns centre. SJH also houses the regional head and neck, ENT and plastics services and proportion of admissions are following major elective head and neck procedures.
In hours the unit is covered by a critical care Consultant. Out of hours Consultant cover is provided by Consultant Anaesthetic staff.