The project aims o improve access to continence care for some of the more vulnerable residents in one London borough. It is known that people living in poverty find it harder to access NHS services (1), and the author met with the lead of the borough's five foodbanks to discuss this. The foodbanks receive frequent requests for incontinence pads and the local NHS service has an issue with unwanted pads either going to waste, being sold or being transferred to patients who may need a different  product and may then miss out of reaching out for treatment for themselves.

A plan was established to improve the communication with recipient's on the NHS containment product service for that borough. It detailed how to return unused pads to the NHS service, requesting that any that were not appropriate to return should be donated to the appropriate foodbank donation points.
Branded materials have been designed for foodbank staff to attach to products, that advertise the local bladder, bowel and pelvic health service and the self-referral details. It is recognised that self-referral can reduce a barrier to receiving care and this is particularly important for this population group.

There has been a considerable amount of time spent navigating the processes that have to be gone through to develop a partnership of this sort. The materials are now ready and the project is about to be officially launched, although the soft launch was around six months ago. Regular communication between the lead of the NHS team managing this project and the foodbank staff will enable monitoring of uptake of labelled products, questions and comments from recipients, and referrals in to the service.

It is surprisingly challenging to set up partnerships and joint working across NHS and non-NHS sectors.

Results over the next 6-12 months will determine future actions to build on this project. It is hoped that this will include clinics within some of the foodbank centres to improve access to care further.

Illustrating the relationship between poverty and NHS Services, The King's Fund, 18 March 2024