Incontinence — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Health
Madeleine Moon (Labour, Centre-left): I recently had a meeting with employers in Bridgend, and the chief executive of CGI was present. That company is proactive in asking its employees what problems they have so that it can support, rather than punish, when those problems affect people’s working situation. People with incontinence should feel confident that they will not lose their job if they say, "Actually, I have this problem. I am going to have to go to the toilet." Shockingly, I found another employer in my constituency that was making deductions from employees’ wages every time they left the floor to go to the toilet because it was time away from their telephone response service. Yes, we need to consider the whole issue of employment practice in relation to incontinence Between 2007 and 2015, 92,000 women in England are thought to have had vaginal mesh implants as a treatment for incontinence. As many as one in 15 women have gone on to have those removed because of complications. The individual testimonies of those affected are dreadful, and while dealing with the wider issue of incontinence we must not forget their plight. I commend the work of my hon. Friend the Member for Pontypridd (Owen Smith), who has brought this issue to the attention of the House, but it is also important that the Government carry out a full audit, establish a registry to determine how many women have been affected, suspend this treatment and look at how we can make sure that the damage and destruction of people’s lives does not continue I know you have been generous with our time, Madam Deputy Speaker, as the House has concluded its other business so early, but I hope that the need for action on this has become obvious. First and foremost, we need to work collectively to raise the profile of incontinence as a public health issue, not as a personal failing—that is how it is seen. If I have an incontinence problem, it is seen not as my having a medical problem but as there being something wrong with me. That view needs to be turned around. People need to be able to talk to their GP. If we go into any pharmacy, we see a sign saying. "If you’ve got a cough and it persists, see your GP." There are signs saying, "If your mole is changing size, talk to your GP." We need to have something that says, "Suffering incontinence? Well don’t suffer in silence, talk to your GP. You will be able to access help and support." We need to stop assuming that this is something that affects older people and to engage schools in understanding how it affects young people. We need to educate young people on bowel and bladder health. Why on earth do we not talk about this? Are we really so hung up that we cannot talk to young people about the fact that at some point in their life they may have a problem, tell them what they do about it and say what sort of help they can get? Will the Minister give us an idea of what his Department plans to do to tackle the huge hidden problem of incontinence in this country? Will he agree to talk to the devolved Administrations so that we do not just set something up for England, but we all take responsibility for this? I am sure that the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and my hon. Friend the Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden) would agree that we must get this sorted once and for all When people seek help they need to feel that health professionals will be equipped to help them. It is also important that doctors are trained in this; it needs to be part of the core training of all nurses and doctors. It should also be there for those who are training to be nursery nurses. We need to build that conversation and to do it soon. It is important that the General Medical Council takes responsibility for moving this forward. I am aware that in England the NHS published "Excellence in continence care" in November 2015, which sought to define what best practice should be and to make recommendations. The document was very welcome, but implementation has been slow. The executive summary even commented on that, saying: "Over the years, some excellent research and guidelines have been produced for best practice continence care but this work has often stalled as it has not translated into a clear commissioning plan for a local continence pathway." Will the Minister ensure that every local authority and every health authority has a clear continence pathway? That is not a big ask; they should be doing it already. Can we make sure that such pathways are now in place Continence services in the UK vary in quantity and availability, with a report in 2010 concluding that patients were faced with a "life sentence" of suffering due to non-existent or poor diagnosis, a lack of treatment plans and poorly co-ordinated care. Earlier this year, a Paediatric Continence Forum audit established that only 41% of clinical commissioning groups and health boards provide all four main continence services and product provision. That is absolutely shocking I hope I have convinced the Minister that he should take the opportunity to make a change in the quality of life for far too many people in this country. This is a problem area that we have neglected for too long.