Authors (including presenting author) :
Ma WSP(1), Yeung LM(1), Chan HY(1), Chan MY(1), Li CY(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Queen Mary Hospital
Introduction :
With the increase in elderly population, the service demanding in management of patients with pelvic floor dysfunction continued to rise. Patients attending our unit for pelvic floor dysfunction will be referred to physiotherapists for learning of pelvic floor exercise in a separate hospital at a separate time, which increase the waiting time between first visit and receiving of treatment. Furthermore, it could be inconvenient for elderly patients and their care takers to attend the pelvic floor exercise session at a separate occasion which in turn lead to reduce in compliance and effectiveness of the treatment. Patients may experience minimal improvement in the clinical conditions after a long waiting time due to the existing limited constraints.
Objectives :
To enhance the service provided to patients with urinary incontinence by provision of one-stop service at their first attendance of the urogynaecology clinic. Instead of referring patients to another hospital for pelvic floor exercise at a separate occasion, patients are seen by trained nurses at the same setting for doctors’ assessment for lifestyle advice and teaching on pelvic floor exercise and bladder training. Suitable patients will be followed up by nurses, reducing the manpower strain of the traditional urogynaecology clinic.
Methodology :
Nurses who are interested in the projects are trained and tested for competence in giving daily advice and teaching patients for pelvic floor exercise and bladder training. Patients who first attended the urogynaecology clinic presented with urinary symptoms are included in the projects. After doctors’ assessment, they will be seen by the trained nurses at the same setting with appropriate advice. Patients who only required pelvic floor exercise or bladder training as treatment will be followed up at a newly setup clinic solely designated for review of their technique on the taught exercise. If required, they will be referred back to the urogynaecology clinic for doctors’ assessment. Eligible patients will be asked to fill in the satisfactory score for the service and recorded.
Result & Outcome :
From September – December 2020, 70% patients attending urogynaecology clinic presented with urinary incontinence. 80% of them received the one-stop service. The waiting time upon receipt of advice on pelvic floor exercise was reduced by 16 weeks. All patients reported a satisfactory score of 5 out of a 5-point scale.
