Welcome to the Children's Bladder and Bowel Service
We are a small team of specialist nurses who see children between the age of 5 and 19 who have problems with their bladder or bowels which affect daily activities.
Our office and clinic hours operate Monday to Friday 08:30 16:30.
Referrals can be made to the service by any health or social care professional such as your GP, community nurse, social worker, school nurse, health visitor or teacher.
Once we receive your referral it will be triaged, and your child will receive an appointment letter in the post to attend your nearest clinic.
- What do we do
“Continence is the ability to control bowel and bladder functions, meaning the voluntary control of urination and defecation. It encompasses the capacity to store urine and faeces, recognize the need to empty the bladder or bowel, and then evacuate them at an appropriate time and place.”
Children can have bladder and bowel problems due to different factors, some of which are below:
- Spinal cord injury
- Developmental delays
- Autism
- ADHD
- Spina bifida
- In clinic we asses children and young people
Bladder:- Daytime wetting
- Visiting the toilet often / an urgent need to wee
- Wee that is painful
- Difficulty having a wee
- Nighttime wetting
- Fear of the toilet
Bowels:- Constipation
- Loose poo
- Withholding poo
- Smearing
- In clinic we can offer assessment, first line treatment and support for a range of bladder and bowel concerns that are person centred
- What you can expect from us
When you arrive at clinic. The nurse will ask you questions about your bladder and bowels and any symptoms you have. The charts you filled in will be assessed by the nurse to see how your bladder and bowels are working. As part of the assessment the nurse might want to have a feel of your tummy and do a bladder scan to see if your bladder empties when you go for a wee.
When the nurse has completed your assessment, you will be provided with a person-centred plan. The care plan will outline the current problems relating to your bladder / bowel health / dysfunction and the agreed treatment.
Treatment and support include:
- Advice on bladder and bowel health.
- Disempaction of faeces
- Diet and fluid advice.
- Medication
- Onward referral.
Our clinics also cover support and guidance on toilet training.
For those children and young people requiring support with CISC and rectal irrigation.
- What do we expect from you
We ask that you complete all the charts sent with your appointment letter.
We ask that if you are unable to attend your appointment for any reason you call the service so that the appointment can be offered to someone else. The service follows the protocol “was not brought” to support children and families who may be vulnerable.
- Useful resources
