About the service
The service consists of a team of specialist children’s nurses who support individuals with bladder and bowel problems, where primary advice and intervention by GP, health visitor, school nurse or other health professional has not been successful.
We offer a confidential, friendly service, undertake a comprehensive assessment, which may include investigations such as stool samples, urinalysis, ultrasound scans, physical and abdominal examinations.
We provide a programme specific to the child or young person’s condition in order to promote continence. This may include self-help advice, medication, equipment or toileting aids.
Who do we see?
We see children and young people aged 1-19 years, who are registered with a Gateshead GP who commonly have concerns such as:
- Constipation
- Soiling
- Stool withholding
- Day time wetting (over 5 years old)
- Nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting)
- Overactive bladder (urine urgency/ frequency)
- Those needing specialist support to achieve their toilet training developmental skill
Referral and Journey through the Children’s Bladder and Bowel Service
Referral into the service is only via a health professional such as your GP or Health Visitor.
Each referral is triaged to ensure the child and young person’s condition meets Children’s Bladder and Bowel Service criteria. If the service criteria is not met, you will be informed by letter and given information detailing alternate services and support.
If a child or young person meets the service criteria, the family are accepted into the service and signposted to review the presentation on our website (coming soon).
Unless there are language barriers, a member of the child’s family is expected to attend a ‘Group Information Session’. This session allows time to discuss and explore your issues and concerns around your child’s bladder and bowel issues, and facilitates discussion around advice, treatments and medications.
After attending a group session and opting into the service you will be sent an individual face to face appointment within 18 weeks of attending the group session which enables the nurse to carry out an assessment, examination, and investigations to develop an individualised health care plan for your child to follow assisting in developing a healthy bladder and bowel, enabling your child to reach their full developmental potential in a timely manner.
A telephone review is offered after the face to face appointment within to ensure you have good understanding of treatment plan and medication management, ‘tweaking’ strategies if required at this point.
If at any point over the next 6 months you need additional support you are able to contact the service. If you have no need to contact the service within 6 months, we will assume your child no longer requires the service, and will therefore be discharged back to the care of your family GP so that they can continue to support the child’s management / medication plan.
What To Expect at Your Appointment
Once your referral has been triaged you will receive an assessment appointment. Assessment may include one or more of the following depending on need identified:
- an initial group education session, potentially followed up with
- a clinic appointment
- a nursery or school visit
At your appointment a specialist nurse will take a medical history and ask questions about your concerns. Information will be taken relating to fluid intake and toileting habits of both the bladder and bowels to give an accurate history. This will include daytime and night-time habits to give an accurate history. The assessment will give the nurse an insight into how best to manage the symptoms and develop a programme of care. It is essential that you bring the assessment charts to every appointment.
The nurse:
- Will undertake physical examinations where appropriate. This may include abdominal examinations and bladder scans. Urine and stool specimens may be required to reach a diagnosis or explore differential diagnosis.
- Will provide health promotion advice and individualised information and update treatment plans and medications in order to achieve healthy bladder and bowel habits.
- May prescribe continence aids to assist the condition(s) or may prescribe disposable containment products those who have a neuropathic bladder/bowel condition.
- May prescribe disposable containment products for children and young people over 5 years old who have an underlying medical reason for not being able to attain continence. An individualised toilet skills programme must have been followed for 6 months without improvement. If disposable containment prescriptions are required, these will be reviewed annually as a minimum, along with the toileting skills programme. This is to check on the child or young person’s development and ensure the appropriateness of disposable containment products before the prescription continues.
Further appointments can be either face to face or telephone appointments. Referral to other Health and Social Services can be supported if appropriate. There may be a need to refer on to a Paediatrician for further treatment, or possibly referred back to the care of the Health Visitor / School Nurse for ongoing care.
Our clinics and groups are held at:
Dunston Health Centre, Dunston Bank, Dunston, Gateshead, NE11 9PY
What you can expect from us:
Individualised, evidence based care with the child and family at the centre of everything we do.
What we expect from you:
In order for the child / young person to get the maximum benefit and the best possible outcomes, it is essential that the treatment programme and advice are followed. The key to success is following the plans beyond the appointment, and into everyday life.
Waiting Well
Sometimes you may have to wait longer to be seen by our service than we would like. Where possible, we may direct you to resources and interventions which you can try at home before your appointment. In some cases, this advice can help to maintain your wellbeing, reduce symptoms or provide ideas on things you can safely try yourself to overcome your problems.
Current Expected Waiting Times
We strive to see everyone who is referred to us in a timely manner. We prioritise our appointments on clinical need and risk, so some people will wait longer than others. Current waiting times for this service are updated here on a regular basis.
Currently you can expect to wait no longer than 14 weeks for an initial appointment [updated 30.10.2024].
If your child is unwell…
If you have any bladder and bowel concerns, please contact the child’s GP
initially.
Only attend the Accident and Emergency Department if the child / young person is very unwell and / or has urgent symptoms which may include:
Increasing abdominal pain
Increasing abdominal distention
Vomiting and unable to tolerate oral fluids
Reduced urine output
Blood in the urine (Haematuria)
Our Team
Michelle
Children’s Bladder and Bowel Specialist Nurse
Lauren
Children’s Bladder and Bowel Specialist NurseWhat People Say About This Service
‘Very important information given by the nurse. I’m so grateful, amazing advice’
‘It was a good service because they were helping me improve my drinking’
‘Really supportive and great at explanations’
‘Polite, professional, made me feel at ease, understanding’
‘Lovely friendly staff, they know how to talk to kids’
‘Understanding and child friendly’
‘Great advice, lots of time given’
‘The nurse explained everything in a thorough way. It was completely relevant to our family. We have a much better understanding of what we need to do’
Child – ‘The nurse helped me to eat more fruit and veg every day.
Cancelling an Appointment
- If you need to cancel or rearrange a child’s appointment, please call the service as soon as possible on 0191 445 8417 between 8:30am and 4:00pm. Please note, cancelling two appointments in a row can lead to the service following the ‘was not brought‘ procedure outlined below.
- Cancelling unwanted appointments means we may be able to offer an appointment to someone else who is waiting.
Child ‘was not brought’ to their health appointment
- Children often do not have a choice about whether they are brought to health care appointments; the decisions are usually made by those caring for them. There is evidence to suggest that failure to attend health appointments can be linked to child neglect in some cases.
- This service therefore follows the Gateshead NHS Foundation Trust’s Safeguarding Children Policy, which includes a reporting pathway to our Safeguarding Children Team when a child is ‘not brought‘ to an appointment, and in some cases when appointments are cancelled. Sometimes when a child is not brought, we may also escalate our concerns to Children’s Social Care.
How to contact the service
Opening Hours – Monday to Friday (excludes Bank Holidays)
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Useful Information
- Bladder and Bowel Specialist Service
- Understanding Comorbidities in children
- Bladder and Bowel UK
- The Children’s Bladder and Bowel Charity
- Growing Healthy
- Colostomy UK
- Mitrofanoff support
- Down Syndrome UK
- Shine Charity
- ERIC
Transition to Adult Services
Gateshead NHS Foundation Trusts services for children and young provide care until a child is around 19 years old (this can vary and sometimes depends upon educational status and whether the young person has a health and care plan). For those who have long-term health needs, and where ongoing support is required, then this will sometimes be provided by adult services. age
In healthcare, we use the word “transition” to describe the process of preparing, planning, and moving from children’s to adult services. Transition is a gradual process that gives a young person, and everyone involved in their care, time to get ready to move to adult services and discuss what their healthcare needs as an adult are likely to be. This includes deciding which services are best for you and where you will receive that care.
Transition is about making plans with the young person. Moving away from a team of health professionals that have been known for many years can be scary but hopefully, by getting involved in the transition process, the young person will feel more confident and happier about the move. Transition will vary from service to service but may involve attending a special appointment where health professionals from the current services ‘introduce’ the young person to health professionals from the services they will attend once they are an adult.
Other Local Children’s Services
The Gateshead Local Offer brings together information for children and young people aged 0-25 years with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families.
This includes information about services and support, and advice and guidance on education, health, social care and transport.
This service is an integrated service for families, expectant mothers, children and young people that offers interventions from the pre-natal stage up to the age of 19. Harrogate and District Foundation Trust leads on the delivery of this service, with a focus on working across services and organisational boundaries to improve public health outcomes. The universal reach of the HCP provides an invaluable opportunity from early in a child’s life to identify families that need additional support and children who are at risk of poor outcomes.
About Your Medical Records:
This service shares information with GP’s and other health care professionals to ensure that you receive appropriate care. If you do not wish to have your clinical information shared then please inform the clinician at your appointment. Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust is a part of the Great North Care Record. This means we make information we record about you available electronically on the Great North Care Record. Health and care staff from other organisations in the North East and North Cumbria who are involved in your care can then access this information. It helps us make your care better and safer. If you want to find out more about the Great North Care Record, or have any concerns; visit the website www.greatnorthcarerecord.org.uk, email [email protected] or call the helpline on 0344 811 9587 (open Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm).