CLINICIANS at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) have come up with new ways to help patients avoid bladder infections, including an animation they can view to support their catheter self-care.

Bladder infections are among the most common types of infection, with more than 92 million people affected worldwide.

In many cases they are minor and treated with antibiotics. For some, however, a urinary tract infection (UTI) can be serious, and can damage the kidneys or spread to the bloodstream.

In some cases UTIs are associated with use of a catheter – a tube inserted to drain the bladder – and correct insertion and use by patients is essential to prevent infection.

Specialist staff at PAHT, keen to ensure these patients are given extra support, invited healthcare professionals from across Hertfordshire and Essex to a special event where they introduced a range of practical measures.

Titled ‘The ins and outs of urinary catheters study day’ the event saw the launch of an animation, practical training and roll-out of the national catheter passport.

More than 100 participants attended the sell-out day, which was aimed at community and hospital based nurses and healthcare support workers, but also included a maternity care assistant, paramedic, a care home practitioner and community pharmacist.

Nora Roberts, bladder and bowel specialist nurse at PAHT, and lead organiser, explained the event looked at causes, prevention and treatment of urinary tract infections generally, but particularly centred on skills around the use of catheters and ongoing management.

One of the main features of the event was the launch of the animation video. This makes the reasons for having a catheter and ongoing care of it more visual and is a useful learning aid for patients. The animation was designed to be clear, concise and easy to follow; patients will now be able to view the animation while in hospital or at home to give them more confidence in managing their catheter themselves.

Kim Cabiles, associate infection control and continence nurse, who launched the animation, said: “We do everything to ensure that staff are performing aseptic catheter insertion and providing excellent ongoing catheter care, but what happens to these patients on a daily basis when they go home is equally important.The ultimate goal is to empower patients and their carers and the only way we can do that is to equip them with the right information and skill that they need. This animated aims to educate patients and their carers about proper catheter care in order to prevent infection.”

The occasion was also an opportunity to provide training on the correct use of bladder scanning which clinicians can utilise in hospital or in the patient’s home when catheters are about to be inserted or removed.

Another topic in the workshop was the introduction of the “national catheter passport” – a patient-owned portable record of all catheter related treatment. Soon this passport will be available to all patients within west Essex and Hertfordshire.

A student nurse who attended said of the event: “Very informative – as a student this was extremely relevant training and I would welcome more workshops like this.”

Another participant concluded: ‘I think that the video will make a real difference to patients. Loads of valuable information.”

Nora Roberts summed up the outcome of the event: “The ‘Ins and outs of catheters’ was a study day that crossed boundaries to bring hospital and community staff together in our fight against catheter associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI). It was amazing to see 100 practitioners from across primary and secondary care actively learning and working together to achieve best practice in catheterisation and catheter care with the ultimate goal of improving patient experience.”