Author: peterb

East Lammermuir Community Council, which covers Stenton, Spott, Innerwick and Oldhamstocks and surrounding areas, is seeking a person to take on the role of Community Council Minute Secretary. This is a remunerated position paying a fair rate as an honorarium for around 40 hours per annum to support and attend our 9 meetings.  These are held in the four village halls in turn.

East Lammermuir Community Council represents the local community, seeking to liaise with other local bodies, developers, and East Lothian Council and the East Lothian Health & Social Care Partnership and NHS Lothian, and Police Scotland. This includes nine Community Council meetings a year which usually take place on Tuesday evenings, according to the calendar published on our website.

The role primarily involves working with the Chair to agree a draft agenda for each of the Community Council’s meetings, minuting the key points and redrafting the minute in light of any amendments. This is increasingly delivered via email.

The Community Council uses social media to update the locality on news and events. Whilst not a formal part of the post, training will be given to anyone interested in this aspect.

If you would like to know more about what’s involved email chair@elcc.scot to arrange a chat in the first instance.  An informal interview will be arranged for all interested candidates, to take place early February 2023.

Following our last update we are pleased to confirm that the remedial works at Belhaven Hospital are progressing well.  There are a number of contractors on site working through the extensive programme of works throughout Ward 1, Blossom House.  

Due to the age and nature of the building, we have come across some issues that need to be resolved to allow some of the remedial work to take place.  This was anticipated, however we were unable to predict the extent required until the works got fully underway.  We are already in the process of addressing these issues, however they regrettably have meant an extension to the project timescales. 

Taking into consideration the requirement for additional work to be undertaken and the contractors recess at the end of December, we are currently planning to move residents back to Blossom Homes in early-mid January.  We recognise that this will be disappointing for residents and family members, however our teams are actively arranging a variety of events to allow residents to enjoy a wide range of activities throughout the festive period, as they would do normally.

We are also aware that a number of community groups continue to access the gardens.  While our schedule of works will include the outdoor areas, our priority and focus is on upgrading the Patient Care Areas first to allow residents to return as soon as possible.

We will continue to provide further updates as the works progress.

Kind regards

Jennifer

Jennifer Jarvis

Senior Communications Advisor | East Lothian Health & Social Care Partnership

Weekly Belhaven Hospital Update 10/10/2022

from East Lothian Health & Social Care Partnership

We would like to thank you for your patience; as we appreciate, it has been a few weeks since our last update about Belhaven Community Hospital.

Over the last few weeks, the water assessments across the full Belhaven site have been completed and ELHSCP and NHS Lothian have received the assessment report from our specialist contractors advising of the remedial works required.   We are now awaiting the programme of works from the contractor, which as previously mentioned will initially focus on Ward 1, Blossom House to allow residents to return as soon as possible.

The works required across Ward 1 are extensive, however once complete will provide a significantly improved facility for the benefit of both residents and staff.  

The programme of maintenance works will include:

• Upgrade of the internal plumbing networks, including the removal of unused outlets
• Installation of a new plant room with water tank and pump booster
• Upgrading of all bedroom en-suites with new wash hand basins
• Complete upgrade of the existing shower room facilities
• Installation of a new assisted hi-lo power bath, providing significantly improved access for residents in and out of the bath.  This will be accompanied with new vinyl flooring and wall panels
• Maintenance and rebalancing of the heating system throughout the building
• Decoration and amenity replacements as required

Once all of the works have been complete, the water system will undergo final verification and compliance assessments in line with government regulation standards.

Estimated timescales to complete the works remain at approximately 2 months.   However, this may be subject to change once the remedial works are underway, especially given the age of the Belhaven site.   

The team are committed to doing everything we possibly can to allow residents to return to Blossom House as soon as feasibly possible.   We again would like to thank the patients, family members and community user groups for their continued patience and understanding, and our Belhaven team for their continued commitment to caring for their patients in alternative surroundings.  

We will continue to provide you updates as the works progress.

Kind regards

Jennifer

Jennifer Jarvis

Senior Communications Advisor | East Lothian Health & Social Care Partnership

T: 01620 828765 | Internal: (6765) | Mobile: 07890 904147

E: jjarvis1@eastlothian.gov.uk