HIV care and treatment

If you have 2 weeks or less of medication and no appointment scheduled within this time period contact the HIV pharmacy team NOW on 0131 536 1606 to organise a supply of medication.

If you are unable to attend an appointment please contact us on 0131 536 2097/2098 so we can offer your time slot to another patient and give you a new appointment.

Where is the clinic?

There are 2 places to access HIV care in Edinburgh.  There are HIV clinic is at the Chalmers Sexual Health Centre in Edinburgh and at the Regional Infectious Diseases Unit at the Western General Hospital.

When is the clinic held?

Clinics at Chalmers Centre are held on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and you will always attend on the same day so that you see the same team. 

The HIV Team 

We work in a Multidisciplinary Team which consists of Doctors, Nurses, clinical support workers, pharmacists and psychologists.

How often will I need to come to Clinic?

If you are newly diagnosed with HIV, you will need to attend the clinic several times in the first few weeks while we take various tests, support you with your diagnosis and start your treatment plan.

Once you are established on your medication you will only need to come to clinic every 6 to 12 months.

What happens at the clinic?

Once established in care most patients only require blood tests once per year and will be reviewed by the clinic every 6 months.

HIV Pharmacy

We will always supply you with enough medication to last until your next appointment. If you need to cancel an appointment or fail to attend an appointment you will need to contact us so we can organise a further supply of medication for you. Please let us know if you need to change your appointment as soon as you possibly can as we have very few last minute appointments available. Please contact us if you have 2 weeks or less of medication and do not have an appointment arranged within that time. The pharmacy is not staffed every weekday so we cannot always dispense medication on the same day.

Our pharmacy team within Chalmers can be contacted on 0131 536 1606 between 1:30pm-4pm Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. For urgent queries out with these times please leave a message on our answer machine and we will get back to you.

Lauriston dispensary can be contacted on 0131 536 2849 between 9am-4:30pm Monday-Friday if you need to speak to a pharmacist outwith the times mentioned above.

Appointments

Please do not fail to attend an appointment-if you are unable to attend and you inform us on 0131 536 2097/2098 we can offer your appointment slot to another patient and can ensure you have a new appointment organised so that you do not run out of medication. Failing to attend appointments costs the NHS money.

What is Homecare?

Homecare is a service where your medication can be delivered to your home or work address every 6 months. There is a significant cost saving for the NHS if you choose to use this service. If you don’t want to use homecare, then you will collect your medication from the Chalmers pharmacy after your clinic review.

Looking after your wellbeing 

Your social and emotional wellbeing is as important as your physical health.

The HIV team includes a psychologist who can help if you are having a difficult time adjusting to your HIV diagnosis and/or medication, or if you have existing or new mental health difficulties that impact on how you live with HIV. The psychologist can work with you to make sense of your difficulties and/or direct you to other services that may be able to help you with your needs.  If you think you would benefit from a psychology review, however recent or long ago your diagnosis was, please ask your doctor or nurse about this at your next clinic visit.

We can also refer you to organisations outside of the NHS who can give you practical, emotional, and social support to help you live well with HIV (see the bottom of this page for links to some useful websites).

Contact Numbers of HIV Team

Should you wish to speak to a member of the HIV team because you have questions relating to your health, clinic visits, or you need to change your appointment in advance, please contact the secretaries on 0131 536 2097/2098 between 8:30am-3:30pm Monday-Friday. If your call is not answered, please leave a message and someone will get back to you as soon as they can. If you need to cancel an appointment you should also contact us on this number.

If you have a medication query, then please contact the Chalmers pharmacy team on 0131 536 1606 between 1:30pm-4pm Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. For urgent medication queries out with these times, Lauriston dispensary can be contacted on 0131 536 2849 between 9am-4:30pm Monday-Friday.

GP Contact 

We will communicate with your GP regarding your care.

Patient Charter

You can read our patient charter here.

Useful websites

Local organisations

https://www.waverleycare.org/
https://www.positivehelpedinburgh.co.uk/

National organisations

https://www.hiv.scot/
https://www.tht.org.uk/
https://www.worldaidsday.org/
http://i-base.info/
https://www.aidsmap.com/