Bringing Back Dignity - Continence Services 2014

News - 4 November 2014

During late 2013 we heard concerns from the community about problems with the continence service that were affecting people's dignity and quality of life.

What people told us

People reported the following issues with the Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare (HRCH) continence service:

Low quality of Attends continence products

"It does not hold urine for long and it falls apart"

"Less absorbent. Tear easily"

"My mother has to double-up when she wants to go out because quality is so poor they leak- very embarrassing."

Supply issues 

  • There was concern over the inability to meet sudden changes in demand e.g.when patients are acutely unwell. 
  • People also experienced a delay between assessment of need and receipt of continence products

Communication problems

  • Some users of the service experiencing inconsistent information and receiving different information from members of staff from other teams involved e.g. community nursing, NHS Supply Chain.
  • Service users are not always informed of the outcomes of their assessments, of whether or when they will receive continence products.
  • People did not always have a service in place at discharge from inpatient settings which creates anxiety. It is felt that inpatient facilities can sometimes leave patients with unrealistic expectations of the service that they can expect on discharge. 4
  • Both patients and staff have sited communication between LBRuT and HRCH as needing improvements.

Disposal

  • There was confusion over the disposal of incontinence products

Downloads

For further information download the summary below.

To read the HRCH's response to these findings download the response below. 

Issues with continence services
Download (PDF 137 KB)
HRCH response to Continence Service Issues
Download (PDF 336 KB)

You might also be interested in

Pharmacists

Hampton Pharmacy Closures - Including a response from Boots

This report details the experiences of almost 700 residents in the wake of 2 pharmacy closures in Hampton North in late 2023. It describes the impact on residents, makes recommendations for improving provision both in Hampton and nationally, and has led to improvements for residents.
The experiences that people shared with us have led to significant impacts, including:
1) Boots have made improvements to their existing stores as a result of our findings,
2) the planning strategy has been amended to allow further pharmacies to open in Hampton,
3) an application to open a new pharmacy in Hampton has been submitted. We have provided evidence to support the decision on this,
4) the findings informing a national debate in the parliament.
Report
Elderly woman smiling face on to the camera

What should you expect from home care services?

The number of people being cared for in their own homes is increasing but what should you expect from home care services?
We highlight five things you should expect from home care services.
Advice and Information

Sign up for our email bulletins

We send out regular bulletins telling you what's going on locally and nationally in NHS and social care as well as 3-4 newsletters per year letting you know what's going on with Healthwatch Richmond and how you can get involved.

You can choose what we send you and can unsubscribe at any time from our communications.

Sign up for Newsletters & Bulletins