Bladder and Bowel Confidence HIT 2023-24

Addressing inequalities in services

A BABCON-led project, funded by NHS Charities Together, in partnership with Sirona Health Links and the local Bladder and Bowel Service, worked with Somali women in Bristol to understand the barriers they face in finding help for continence issues. As a result, a new clinic for women who suffer from bladder and bowel conditions is now open in East Bristol. The clinic, run by community provider Sirona, is safe, easily accessible, staffed only by females, and has interpreters available.  

This year saw the launch of an awareness campaign alongside the new clinic. The campaign includes an animation and leaflets in Somali and English. HIT Director Professor Nikki Cotterill and Sirona Health Links Worker Amira Hassan presented the project at Bristol Health Partners’ conference in October 2023.  

This year the HIT also worked with the Dementia HIT in running continence health workshops in Bristol for people from the Chinese Community living with dementia and their carers, as people with dementia are more at risk of incontinence.  

Generating evidence to improve treatment 

HIT co-director Professor Marcus Drake led a successful trial of a new treatment for lower urinary tract problems in men, which showed a sustained reduction in symptoms. It has the potential to improve care and reduce drug prescriptions. The Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) trial involved over 1,000 participants and 30 GP practices, with results published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). 

Developing system working  

The HIT has developed a new resource which shows where bladder and bowel service providers are in England. The Bladder and Bowel Service map lists locations, web links and contact details for both adults and children’s services. Users can also search for different types of service and services available regionally. 

Another resource pioneered by the HIT is a toolkit for people working in social care to support clients with incontinence. This work was carried out with local authorities which identified a gap in service provision. The toolkit is now being rolled out in the region. 

Influencing beyond our region

Nikki Cotterill received a prestigious Royal College of Nursing Fellowship in 2023, recognising her commitment to changing the narrative around continence care, empowering people to self-help and improving continence education and training.   

With nationwide partners, she spearheaded the development of the award-winning CONfidence app to support people with continence issues. The app has been downloaded thousands of times, and other regions in England this year requested their own local information page on the app. Funding from UWE Bristol enabled the HIT to host the app on a standalone website to achieve greater exposure and discussion are progressing about featuring the app on the NHS website.

Nikki previously presented a report to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Bladder and Bowel Continence Care at the House of Commons, which reflected the lived experiences of people affected by bladder and bowel control issues. Following this, the app and other work from the BABCON HIT was raised in a Westminster Hall Debate in 2023. This exposure will help the aim to get the app featured on the NHS webpages and explore what more the NHS can do to promote use of the app more broadly. 

Funding enabled in 2023-24

BABCON HIT helped secure £9,099 in 2023-24 for projects to generate research evidence, improve outcomes and address health inequalities.