Uncovering the taboo of Continence Care

A national audit published this week has revealed widespread gaps in commissioning of continence support within social care, despite high level of need.

The new report,’Who Cares? Uncovering the incontinence taboo in social care’ has been published by an expert group on lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) to determine if local authorities mandate high quality continence care in contracts with all local social care providers, including care homes and nursing homes.

 Incontinence affects thousands of people in residential care and NHS costs continue to rise in their millions. Poor management of incontinence is not only distressing and degrading for individuals, it can also lead to avoidable complications such as infections and pressure sores, which can increase the amount of time spent in high cost hospital settings.

The expert group on LUTS, including urinary incontinence, is a group of primary and secondary healthcare professionals and patient representatives who came together in 2011 to explore how improvements in the quality of services available for people with continence problems could be achieved.

At Birmingham Women’s Hospital, we welcome the report’s findings as we see many patients with continence problems. There needs to be greater support for an issue which affects a large number of the population.

Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Mr Matthew Parsons at Birmingham Women’s Hospital formed part of the expert panel and he commented, “Urinary and faecal incontinence is one of the last great taboos; it affects huge numbers of men and women. Fortunately at Birmingham Women’s, we work with an excellent multidisciplinary team of nurses, physiotherapists, and doctors to provide a comprehensive and supportive service for women, both in Birmingham but also as a tertiary service for women in the wider Midlands and beyond. We also link proactively with colorectal surgeons, urologists, physicians, midwives, and physiologists to cross boundaries and ensure a full ‘pelvic medicine’ service.”

To read the full report, please view here:

Who Cares. Uncovering the incontinence taboo in social care