Continence Pads - FOI Response Register

Please provide the details specified below concerning the provision of continence pads and containment products (including nappies and ‘pull ups’) for disabled children and disabled young people within your Board’s area.   

1. The eligibility criteria that determine what type and what quantity of continence pads and containment products can be provided for disabled children and disabled young people.

We follow the national guidance. Products are for children and young people with very complex bowel and bladder problems or those who are not able to achieve continence due to a diagnosed or suspected conditions, such as cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome, or developmental disabilities, including autism.  

These are the main points that we follow below:- 

All children and young people must have a comprehensive assessment of their bladder and bowel, with appropriate identified interventions undertaken.

All children and young people must be supported with a toilet training programme for at least three months, prior to providing containment products, unless it is clear that this is inappropriate e.g. in children with a neuropathic bladder and/or bowel .

Products would not normally be supplied before a child has reached their fourth birthday and then only after the child or young person has undergone a comprehensive bladder and bowel assessment and, where appropriate, a trial of toilet training for at least three months.

Children where it is known or anticipated there may be difficulties with toilet training e.g. learning disabilities or autism, should have the opportunity for early intervention (at around 2 years of age) to facilitate the development of the necessary toileting skills.

The ‘custom and practice’ of automatically providing products to children with an acknowledged disability once they have reached their fourth birthday is not appropriate and could be considered discriminatory.

Disposable pant style products should not be provided as part of toilet training programmes for children with additional needs.

Consideration should always be made regarding the provision of washable products rather than disposable – clinical experience has shown that they are effective in supporting toilet training and help ‘normalise’ the process. 

Containment products should not be supplied for treatable medical conditions, such as bedwetting and constipation with overflow. Children with these conditions should be offered assessment and treatment.

2. Please provide a copy (in printed or electronic form) of the guidance that your Board requires practitioners to have regard to when authorising the provision of continence pads and containment products for disabled children and disabled young people; and

See attachment, this is presently under review. However current document remains in line with the national guidance.

3. The work title (or post or qualifications or other designation) that identifies the practitioners who can authorise the provision of continence pads and containment products for disabled children and disabled young people.

Community Children’s Nurse Post holder.