Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to improve incontinence care provided by the NHS.

Millions of men, women, young people, and children of all ages are living with bowel and bladder problems. All continence problems can be debilitating and life changing. They affect a wide range of care groups and can be a particular concern for the ageing population.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published five guidelines on the management of urinary and faecal incontinence to date. These guidelines cover the management of urinary incontinence in people with neurological disease, the prevention and management of pelvic floor dysfunction, and pelvic organ prolapse in women. NICE has also published a further 14 products in relation to urinary incontinence and 12 in relation to faecal incontinence.

The Department has also commissioned NICE to produce late-stage assessment guidance on one-piece closed bags for colostomies and intermittent urethral catheters for chronic incomplete bladder emptying in adults. These late-stage assessments gather the views of clinical experts and patients to help NICE assess and compare the value of products in widespread use across the National Health Service.

The NHS must also have regard to the Excellence in Continence Care guidance, published in 2018. This provides advice for commissioners, providers, and healthcare staff on understanding and addressing continence needs within their local population. This guidance is supported by British Society of Urogynaecology. Further information on the Excellence in Continence Care guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/excellence-in-continence-care/

NHS England has also produced Safer Bowel Care for Patients at Risk of Autonomic Dysreflexia, a serious medical emergency that can occur in people with spinal cord injuries, which offers resources to support safer bowel care practice and highlights the importance of implementing the Excellence in Continence Care framework.

In addition to national guidance, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has professional standards relating to bladder and bowel nursing care. The NMC Code places strong emphasis on the principle of “Prioritising People”, which sets out the expectation that registrants should always respond to individual patient needs.

NHS England is also developing a best practice catheter care pathway across all settings to be completed by the end of this year.

Our focus on the shift from hospital to community will help to drive more joint working in neighborhoods between primary care, pharmacies, community health care, and social care, to help people to manage incontinence at home, by giving them access to the right self-care, the right professional support, so they aren’t passed from service to service, and reducing their need for emergency admissions to hospital.