Bladder & Bowel UK have presented their first-ever Product Innovation and Clinical Excellence awards to winners who are excelling in the field of bladder and bowel health care.

Product Innovation award

TENA won the Bladder & Bowel UK Product Innovation Award for their TENA SmartCare Change Indicator and TENA SmartCare Family Care Giver App, which sends notifications via smartphone when an absorbent continence product needs changing, without the need for intrusive checking. Judges’ comments included that it is “an innovative app that not only inform carers/ family members of the state of their loved ones continence pad but also allows the carer to gain support from other carers, health care professionals and have the ability to order further supplies,” and that they are “very impressed with the level of patient/carer input in the design, development & trialling of this product.” The judging was completed by a mixed panel of clinicians and Bladder & Bowel UK service users.

Qualifying entries for the 2022 Product Innovation award included:

• Diveen from BBRAUN
• Navina Fecal Incontinence Insert from Wellspect
• Orizon SMART from Ontex
• Peristeen Plus from Coloplast
• TENA SmartCare Change Indicator and TENA SmartCare Family Care Giver App from TENA

Clinical Excellence award

Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale’s Community Bladder and Bowel Service won the Bladder & Bowel UK Clinical Excellence Award for the Right Pad Right Person Project which uses specialist continence assessments, training and the prescription of continence pads to reduce poor incontinence care, incorrect usage of containment products and shortages of pads in residential and nursing homes, as well as the incidence of Incontinence Associated Dermatitis (IAD)/moisture lesions due to incorrect usage. Judging was carried out by June Rogers MBE, Doreen McClurg and Karen Logan. During evaluation the service scored highly for the leadership shown and the evaluation that was carried out as part of the project.

2022 is the first year that the awards have been held, and interest was high, with nine applications for the Clinical Excellence award and six applications for the Product Innovation award (with five qualifying entries).

Qualifying entries for the 2022 Clinical Excellence award included:

• Fiona Evans, Bladder & Bowel Specialist Nurse, North Cumbria Integrated Care NCIC Community Bladder and Bowel service, (nominated by Debbie Williams, on behalf of the Community Bladder and Bowel service)
• Greater Manchester Neurogenic Integrated Stroke Delivery Network (GMNISDN) Bladder and Bowel Task and Finish Group
• Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale’s Community Bladder and Bowel Service for their Right Pad Right Person Project
• Hertfordshire’s Children and Young Peoples Continence Service
• Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust’s Integrated Bladder, Bowel and Pelvic health team
• Lancashire Teaching Hospital NHS Trust’s Children’s Specialist Nursing Bladder and Bowel Team
• Sefton’s Bladder and Bowel Prescription Service
• South Tyneside and Sunderland’s Bladder and Bowel Team
• Stockport’s PEBBLES Children’s Continence service

Karen Irwin, Bladder & Bowel UK’s Service Manager and Specialist Nurse, said: “This year’s awards show how people working in the field of bladder and bowel health continue to strive for improvement. I am delighted to be able to present the winners, as evaluated by our excellent judging panels.”

About Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale’s Community Bladder and Bowel Service, winners of the Bladder & Bowel UK Clinical Excellence Award 2022, she said: “Their Right Pad, Right Person Project has clearly demonstrated how they have led, problem solved and worked jointly, collaborating with staff in the homes, along with local NHS commissioning, quality improvement team and governance groups. 

“Several changes have been implemented to support staff in the homes as a result of the project. This includes implementation of formal training for staff on a wide aspect of bladder, bowel and incontinence health issues, including roles and responsibilities, assessment treatment, care and management. The project has been audited and swiftly saw improvements in moisture lesion healing, increase in knowledge of staff, improved working across NHS/residential care and most importantly improved continence care for residents and their reported improved quality of life. This project can also be replicated across wider areas, providing the opportunity to build on the benefits of this excellent work.”

June Rogers MBE, lead judge of the Bladder & Bowel UK Clinical Excellence Award 2022, said: “The difference nurses make to patient care is often not fully recognised, so I was delighted to be asked by Bladder & Bowel UK to help judge the Clinical Excellence Awards. The standard of entry was high with some nurses clearly going above and beyond to improve the lives of the patients in their care. The winning entry made a substantial contribution to changing practice, forging a robust multi-agency collaboration and developing a proactive approach to prevention and treatment. This not only resulted in improvement in patient care and staff knowledge, but also a reduction of continence related comorbidities and the need for visits. A very worthy winner!”

Of the winner of the Bladder & Bowel UK Product Innovation Award 2022, Karen said: “The TENA Smart Care Indicator and TENA SmartCare family Care Giver App will further enhance the care delivery of an individual with continence issues. Essity have demonstrated the importance of involving patient involvement, alongside the clinical and research model. This is a key consideration when developing any new technology. We know that the management of incontinence can be a challenge. This new technology will enhance the care delivery and management for those people requiring absorbent products in their own homes support.”

Alan Cottenden, lead judge of the Product Innovation Award, said: “Many congratulations to our colleagues at TENA for winning the 2022 Bladder & Bowel UK Product Innovation Award with their TENA Smartcare for notifying family members or care professionals when an incontinence product needs to be changed. I love the way that their system takes a holistic approach to continence care. To be sure, there’s clever technology at the heart of it but they’ve clearly thought things through from the perspectives of both patients and caregivers: dignity and quality of life are written all over it.

“When I read through the information supporting the five product entries, I was mightily relieved to remember that my role was to comment on the judges’ verdict rather than assign scores myself: what a tough job the judges had!  The world incontinence community owes a great deal to the hard work and creativity of the manufacturers in our midst and I was delighted to discover ample evidence in these five entries that the spirit of innovation is thriving among them. Great and encouraging news for those with misbehaving bladders and bowels, and also for those seeking to care for them.

“Finally, a want to say a big thank you to Bladder & Bowel UK for providing us with a wonderful opportunity to recognise and celebrate our manufacturers’ achievements.

Both winners receive a media pack and the opportunity to present at Bladder & Bowel UK’s 2023 professional training symposia, taking place on 23^rd March at Bolton Arena, and 27^th September at Coventry Building Society Arena.