Locala’s Continence, Colorectal & Stoma Service key role is it to provide advice and support on the management of a bladder, bowel or pelvic floor dysfunction.
Following a holistic assessment, our team of specialist clinicians, will provide an individual with a diagnosis of their condition and agree a personalised treatment programme with them.
All of our treatment programmes are aimed at maximising independence, promoting dignity and improving or even curing the person’s presenting condition.
Containment products are only supplied to individuals suffering from a long term incurable bladder or bowel condition.
If you have been recently discharge from hospital you should have been supplied with at least 12 weeks supply of products as part of your discharge prescriptions. Once these pads have run out you will need to purchase a private supply of pads from either a local retailer or online supplier until our clinical team have undertaken an assessment of your clinical needs.
If you have not been in hospital and have difficult controlling your bladder or bowel you can make a direct self-referral to our Continence, Colorectal & Stoma Service for an assessment of your needs. However, until you have been seen by our specialists you will need to purchase private products from either a local retailer or online supplier.
If you need advice about which pads to use and don’t want to be referred into the Continence Service you can find information here: Bladder & Bowel UK
Following your assessment and if appropriate our clinicians will recommend a supply of continence products for you. Containment products are prescribed according to your clinical need only, and under most circumstances, due to the wide range of products available to us, it is possible to manage bladder and bowel conditions using a maximum number of 4 pads per 24 hours.
If you feel our recommendations do not fit with your life style, your clinician will talk to you about life style prescribing.
Life style prescribing allows our clinicians to prescribe alternate products from our supplier at an equivalent cost to the products we have recommended for you.
Depending on the type of 'Life Style' product you choose you may receive more or less than 4 products per day.
Unfortunately 'pull up pads' are not available within our NHS provided products. However, our clinicians are able to prescribe from a wide range of products and under most circumstances it will be possible to manage your condition with our NHS supplied products.
Our clinicians will work with you to find the most suitable product for your needs. However, if you feel our clinician’s recommendations do not fit with your life style, we are happy to talk to you about life style prescribing.
Life style prescribing allows our clinicians to prescribe 'pull up products' at an equivalent cost to the products you would normally be provided with from our NHS product formulary.
At Locala we work in accordance with Continence Care National standards and best practice, both of which identify that continence products should only be supplied after an initial holistic assessment of an individual’s clinical need.
In addition to this, understanding the extent of your problem enables us to ensure that you receive the best possible care and the most appropriate containment product.
The bladder, bowel and food diaries provide valuable information about your condition, they aid diagnosis and help ensure the best possible treatment is available to you.
Without the completed diaries our clinical team are not able to assess your needs effectively and this could have a detrimental effect on the care we provide for you.
We understand that completing the diaries can be difficult due to memory or behavioural problems.
However, we strongly recommend that you attempt to capture some information for the clinicians and if necessary reduce the number of days you record the data for from seven days to three days.
To establish your clinical need we review the information we have gathered during your initial holistic continence assessment. We will also compare your medical records and review your completed bladder/bowel diaries. From this we can establish the extent of your needs.
Continence pads should be stored in a dry environment and never kept in a damp or steamy room like the bathroom, cellar or garden shed.
It is advisable that if you live in a residential or nursing home that your supply of pads is marked so it is identifiable and kept for your sole use.
All continence pads need to be worn next to your body and secured with firm underwear ensuring a close/snug fit in to the groin area in order to prevent leakages. There are fitting guides available on every pack of products but if you need additional support our clinicians will be more than happy to provide you with one to one guidance.
Used containment products should be disposed of by the following method;
