Friday 20 March 2026
Internal Reference Number: FOI_9168
Date Request Received: 15/01/2026 00:00:00
Date Request Replied To: 12/02/2026 00:00:00
This response was sent via: By Email
Request Summary: Adult's Continence Service
Request Category: Companies
| Question Number 1: Continence care is a fundamental component of adult health, dignity and independence. National NICE guidance and professional standards emphasise the importance of timely assessment, appropriate product provision, and care that meets assessed clinical need while respecting patient choice and individual circumstances. Against that background, and under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), we would be most grateful if you could provide the information set out below regarding your Trust’s adult continence and/or bladder and bowel services. We kindly request responses to the following questions: Does your Trust currently provide an adult continence assessment service for individuals aged 18 years and over? (Yes/No) If No, please provide the name of the provider that delivers continence assessments for this age group in your area. If Yes, please provide: • The name of the service (if applicable). • The age range it covers. • The staff roles or disciplines included in the service (e.g. nurse, physiotherapist, occupational therapist). • The number of staff in each role, expressed as whole-time equivalent (WTE). • The service’s referral pathway (e.g. GP, , self-referral). | |
| Answer To Question 1: Response from Gynae: We do not provide this service in gynaecology. GPs will normally refer to the Wiltshire or Dorset continence teams. If they get to gynae and this has not been done we would also do the same. Urology Response: Yes we have adult continence services for men and women. They sit under the care of surgical division - urology. We have 2 consultants and 2 CNS's and a catheter company nurse who provides additional support. We do not have a pelvic floor physiotherapist. Referral is usually through the GP, but occasionally can be via the community continence nurses. Colorectal Response: We do not have a dedicated Continence Service in the hospital for faecal incontinence. If patients seen in one of the Colorectal Clinics require the services of a Continence Service, this requires an onward referral. This is provided by a number of different providers depending on whether the patient is based in Wiltshire, Hampshire or Dorset. For Wiltshire patients they can be referred by their GP or from Secondary Care to the Wiltshire Continence Service which is now run by a private company called HCRG Care Group. For Hampshire or Dorset patients they then need to be referred to their local Continence Service, which varies from place-to-place and is more and more frequently requiring referral to another hospital to be able to access the service (due to the vagaries of local commissioning), which again can be done directly by a GP or from our clinic. | |
| Question Number 2: Does your Trust currently provide an adult continence product provision service (e.g. absorbent pads or continence products) for individuals aged 18 years and over? (Yes/No) If No, please provide the name of the provider responsible for product provision for this age group. If Yes, please provide the following information: • The name of the service (if applicable). • The age range it covers. • The staff roles or disciplines included in the service (e.g. nurse, physiotherapist, occupational therapist). • The number of staff in each role, expressed as whole-time equivalent (WTE). • The service’s referral pathway (e.g. GP, , self-referral). | |
| Answer To Question 2: Response from Gynae: We do not provide this service in gynaecology. GPs will normally refer to the Wiltshire or Dorset continence teams. If they get to gynae and this has not been done we would also do the same. Surgery Response: Continence products are provided by the community continence team in Salisbury. The are run by HCRG. | |
| Question Number 3: Has your Trust closed, reduced or restructured any part of its adult continence and/or bladder and bowel service since October 2022? (Yes/No) If yes, please provide: • The date of closure or reduction. • A brief description of what changed (e.g. staffing, eligibility criteria, service capacity). | |
| Answer To Question 3: No | |
| Question Number 4: What is the average waiting time (in weeks) on the waiting list for this service for: • An initial assessment within the adult continence service • Access to continence products through the adult continence service | |
| Answer To Question 4: The average waiting time for adult Urology services (where this service is featured) is currently 44 weeks. | |
| Question Number 5: What is the current number of adults on the waiting list for this service for: • An initial assessment within the adult continence service • Access to continence products through the adult continence service | |
| Answer To Question 5: The current number of adults waiting to be seen by Consultants who run the adult continence service is 573. We are unable to provide an accurate answer to the specific bullet points. | |
| Question Number 6: What is the number of adults on your caseload that have faecal incontinence? If this data is not captured, please state “Not captured” in your response. | |
| Answer To Question 6: Not captured | |
| Question Number 7: Does your Trust follow or implement the following national guidance and professional standards for continence care and management? Please indicate Yes or No for each • Lower urinary tract symptoms in men: management (NICE), with particular reference to clause 1.3.3, which focuses on the idea of providing a choice of containment products to manage storage LUTS (particularly urinary incontinence) based on individual circumstances and in consultation with the man. • Lower urinary tract symptoms in men (NICE) • Faecal incontinence in adults (NICE), with particular reference to the “Appropriate products” section, on pg. 18, which states: These are continence or bowel management products that are appropriate to the person's circumstances, taking into account their preferences. These may include: o disposable body-worn pads in a choice of styles and designs, and disposable bed pads if needed o pads in quantities sufficient for the person's continence needs (it is inappropriate to limit the number of pads given) • Recommendations | Urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in women: management | Guidance | NICE • Guidance for the provision of absorbent products for adult incontinence, produced by the Association for Continence Professionals and the Royal College of Nursing (2019), with particular reference to Sections 4.1, 10, which states: “The number of absorbent products issued per 24 hours must meet assessed clinical need, although some localities apply restrictions. As part of the continence assessment process a validated scoring system might be used to objectively measure ‘clinical need’ in continence care. Products must be provided to meet patients’ fundamental care needs, including maintaining independence.” (Murphy et al., 2019) | |
| Answer To Question 7: • Lower urinary tract symptoms in men: management (NICE), with particular reference to clause 1.3.3, which focuses on the idea of providing a choice of containment products to manage storage LUTS (particularly urinary incontinence) based on individual circumstances and in consultation with the man. Yes • Lower urinary tract symptoms in men (NICE). Yes • Faecal incontinence in adults (NICE), with particular reference to the “Appropriate products” section, on pg. 18, which states: These are continence or bowel management products that are appropriate to the person's circumstances, taking into account their preferences. These may include: o disposable body-worn pads in a choice of styles and designs, and disposable bed pads if needed o pads in quantities sufficient for the person's continence needs (it is inappropriate to limit the number of pads given) N/A we do not provide a faecal incontinence service. • Recommendations | Urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in women: management | Guidance | NICE. Yes • Guidance for the provision of absorbent products for adult incontinence, produced by the Association for Continence Professionals and the Royal College of Nursing (2019), with particular reference to Sections 4.1, 10, which states: “The number of absorbent products issued per 24 hours must meet assessed clinical need, although some localities apply restrictions. As part of the continence assessment process a validated scoring system might be used to objectively measure ‘clinical need’ in continence care. Products must be provided to meet patients’ fundamental care needs, including maintaining independence.” (Murphy et al., 2019). N/A - inpatients are provided as many as needed. Outpatients are provided by community continence nurses. | |
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Our staff at Salisbury District Hospital have long been well regarded for the quality of care and treatment they provide for our patients and for their innovation, commitment and professionalism. This has been recognised in a wide range of achievements and it is reflected in our award of NHS Foundation Trust status. This is afforded to hospitals that provide the highest standards of care.
