Management of indwelling urinary catheters in community settings
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Management of indwelling urinary catheters in community settings: using the experiences of patients, carers, community nurses and other health and social care staff to co-produce an education/training strategy
IRAS ID
167628
Contact name
Val McIver
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 7 days
Research summary
Within the West Dunbartonshire Community Health and Care Partnership (CHCP) urinary catheter management is a major cause of unplanned call-outs and unnecessary admissions to hospital. The main reason for call-outs is due to blocked catheters, however data collected by GPs and District Nurses are not linked, nor are data relating to outcomes for patient, therefore the true health burden related to blocked catheters is unknown.
Community healthcare presents a distinct set of challenges for professionals. The diversity of community provision, in terms of facilities, services offered and staffing mix, make audit of recurring reasons for call outs more difficult to monitor. However, anecdotal evidence from staff from the West Dunbartonshire CHCP has identified that many callouts are specifically related to blocked catheters and thus close monitoring of this problem is indicated, with a view to implementing strategies to prevent blockages.
The proposed project aims to 1) establish the incidence and nature of difficulties associated with indwelling catheter use for people in the community within West Dunbartonshire based on objective data collected from three databases as appropriate, EMIS GP data, Community Nursing Information System (CNIS), and Out of Hours data (OOH), as well as the subjective experiences of people with indwelling catheters, relatives caring someone with an indwelling catheter, and health and social care staff, and 2) to use these data to develop a training strategy with a view to reducing call outs and distress for catheterised patients and their families.
Additionally anonymous used catheters will be tested in order to identify existing bacteria, the aim being to use the information derived from this project to underpin a bid for further research in this area.REC name
West of Scotland REC 3
REC reference
15/WS/0016
Date of REC Opinion
26 Feb 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion