Continence Care Shortlisted for National Award

An innovative project to improve continence care in Lincolnshire has been shortlisted for a national healthcare award.

The project by Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) is among the finalists in the Continence Promotion and Care category of the Nursing Times Awards.

The work sees NHS community teams and care home staff supported to gain additional specialist knowledge and encourages earlier assessment and referrals for patients requiring continence care.

As a result, patient assessment waiting times have been reduced by half, services are more efficient and regular patient reviews give them greater dignity and comfort.

The project started as a pilot but is now being rolled out across south Lincolnshire in the Grantham, Sleaford, Bourne and Stamford areas.

It has been developed by Kai Brownhill, LCHS's Lead Nurse for Education and Support to Care Homes, and Continence Clinical Nurse Specialist Sue Kinder.

Kai said: "This project originally started with sharing our specialist nursing knowledge with some of our local care homes but we saw there were potential benefits for the wider community. By making improvements to the service and tailoring care to fit around individual patients' needs, we can offer them greater dignity and comfort in what can be a difficult issue to discuss."

LCHS Chief Executive Andrew Morgan said: "We want to provide excellent care and we are constantly monitoring our performance and striving to make improvements. This is a good example of where we have encouraged staff to use their knowledge and experiences to innovate. We are very pleased to be able to share our best practice on a national platform."

The winner will be announced at a ceremony on October 29 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.