21st Century Catheter Project

At the risk of boring others may I ask the 400 plus new facebook supporters to visit our website, www.21ccp.org and register your support.

As February closes we pass 1,800 'likes' on facebook, largely the result of promoting our page since mid-January.

Welcome to the 650 new supporters to our Facebook page this month. Please, please, can I encourage you to visit our website, www.21ccp.org and register your support. 

I wrote last month about my experience at A&E when in acute retention. I would just like to redress the balance by sharing my impatient stay after having a Trans Urethral Resection of Prostate (TURP).

I cannot fault the nursing or medical staff in any way. The nurses without exception were kind and attentive. I experienced very little discomfort as pain control was given to me regularly post-surgery with very good effect.

Welcome to the 450 new supporters to our Facebook page this month. Please, please, can I encourage you to visit our website, www.21ccp.org and register your support.

So many patients have related their experience of being catheterised as distressing, and often they are left bereft of any knowledge of who to contact when things go wrong.

I find it amazing that patients are not routinely given all the information they need should an emergency arise. Even the most basic information such as contact name and telephone number in written or verbal form is not routinely handed out.

The panic, pain and unnecessary suffering by the patient and their family could be avoided with a little forethought by the person responsible for catheter care.

After 4 hours of being unable to pass urine, and being in intense pain, called the emergency Doctor at 3.30am. After waiting for an age for a call back, finally spoke to the Doctor who asked me to come to the Out of Hours surgery for 5.45.

Arrived, barely able to walk, to be told Doctor was running late, so decided to book into A&E at the same time. Was seen almost immediately, thankfully.

Happy New Year to all our Supporters.

As The Project enters its third year there are signs of real progress that offer promise for 2013. Of course, that promise will be accompanied by the frustration of watching misguided souls trying to solve the difficulties caused by the current Foley Catheter design.

“Given the choice between being able to walk or being continent, I should always want to be continent”

Some years ago when trying to interest scientists in the problems of draining and containing urine from the urinary bladder, I used to invite one of my patients, a young feisty paraplegic to introduce our brain-storming meetings.

Since our last newsletter, the 21st Century Catheter Project has made important progress towards the possible introduction of an innovative urine collection system. The charity Walk the Walk has awarded the company, Alternative Urological Catheter Systems Ltd, a generous grant of £124,000 to undertake a pilot study in Rotherham on a prototype device.