Pull up pants and the NHS

[Angie1996]

I am being told my dad is now incontinent and won't wear the pads, so I went up the shop and bought a load of pull ups for the care home to use on him.

I rang the LA about supplying pull ups on the NHS and they say they dont!!

So not only being stuffed over paying for his care, he now has to pay for his pull up pants.

Ranting!!! why do we bother paying in all our life, to get stuffed over when we need it the most!!!!!

I am so disappointed with how our system works for people with this cruel disease!

 

[marionq]

I recently posted that the continence nurse told me that 19500 people in the Glasgow area alone are receiving incontinence products. The cost must be huge across the UK so it is all about what the public purse can handle. I have one delivery from them plus a load of pull ups I bought myself. Fortunately my husbands incontinence is sporadic rather than regular. So I won't be costing them much hopefully for some time.

 

[love.dad.but..]

I am being told my dad is now incontinent and won't wear the pads, so I went up the shop and bought a load of pull ups for the care home to use on him.

I rang the LA about supplying pull ups on the NHS and they say they dont!!

So not only being stuffed over paying for his care, he now has to pay for his pull up pants.

Ranting!!! why do we bother paying in all our life, to get stuffed over when we need it the most!!!!!

I am so disappointed with how our system works for people with this cruel disease!

I share your disappointment and pain as Dad is also a self funder just absorbing another fee increase. I know from what I was told when dad was incontinence assessed, turned down twice when clearly incontinent and because he is mobile and was taking pads out, he has been given pull ups but they are very reluctant to do this as far more expensive. However his allocation of 3 for 24 hours are not sufficient most days especially at night he still wets the bed and it wakes him up then he walks! But that is the care homes problem not mine, I have done my fair share of his night time awake and pacing shifts!

 

[Beate]

I think it's different per council - we get pull-up pants but only 2 a day and not a high absorbency. It is ludicrous as these products cost a bomb, even in the supermarket - don't even think about getting them from a pharmacy.

 

[fizzie]

Our LA provide 2 pull ups per day or 3 pads - you could try asking if they would provide any or Perhaps if the care home used the pads differently he might find it easier. we used to put them inside the pants (clean) and then put the pants back in the drawer so that they didn't appear to be any differnt to normal underwear and were pulled up in one go - just a thought

 

[Katrine]

It's not the LA that supplies these in my mum's area, it's the NHS. I would ring the district nurses and ask to speak to the Continence Nurse. This is the person who does the continence assessment. They then recommend to their manager and, if approved, you get products on prescription. Usually this will mean reordering every 12 weeks by phone or online.

You may not receive sufficient for dad's total needs. My mum gets 4 pull-ups a day but I still have to buy night-time all-in-one nappies for her. Without these she would flood the bed. She also has to pay for disposable bed pads, gloves and bags, disinfectant, laundry cleanser, plus all the costs of doing extra laundry. Incontinence is horribly expensive.

 

[Tin]

Katrine has posted what I was going to say. Did not think this was the responsibility of Local Authority. The NHS continence clinic supplies mum, but only 2 a day, one for day and one for night. They are not great, so I am still buying Depend pull ups but having nhs on prescription has reduced the cost dramatically for me.

 

[Angie1996]

Thanks all for your comments, I did ring the incontinence clinic for this area, and they did not want to know, just said no we don't supply them, end off.......

The care home said he tells them he wants to go, but cannot get to the toilet in time due to his mobility being slow, hence they now have him in pull ups.........

So I think its called Forced incontinence..........

Disappointed about this, and that he is now wearing them, when 4 days ago he was not, since I changed his home he has got a urine infection and now in pull ups........

 

[Peirre]

I too can only echo Katrine's comments.
The pads are only the tip of the iceberg, we where initially given 5 prs of Tena comfort pants with the 1st prescription delivery, and no more are available on prescription. For our 3rd delivery due next week I've asked for larger pads which are wider at the rear to deal with occasional double incontinence.
Additional items we have had to purchase inc 2x 100 disposable Kylie sheets, more Tena comfort pants as 5pr isn't enough to keep pace, and I've just ordered several double bed sized washable Kylie sheets and washable Kylie seat pads in an attempt to counter to speed we're using disposable Kylie sheets.

The learning curve looks so steep, I think it'll turn into loop the loop ........

 

[Wheresmygin]

My MiL's LA / NHS do supply pull ups, but as they are ENORMOUS they aren't the best for her as she is still fairly mobile and we do take her out often. At the moment she is only occasionally incontinent, although it could be either liquid or solids. So we buy the pull ups when we do a supermarket shop, and the care home put her in them rather than pants.

She should only need 1 per day, but getting her to change is proving difficult. As she appears so independent, they leave her if she refuses the personal care offered. Whenever we go, we get her to change - sometimes she isn't wearing anything.
I know this is terrible, but she ain't getting in my car without a pair of pull-ups on!

Seriously, she really struggled with pads - whenever she went to the loo she would either take the pad off and leave it on the floor (or even worse, try to flush it) or put it back on the outside of her pants or even trousers. It was easier to remove all pairs of normal pants and only offer the pull ups.

It sounds like there are some options above for prescription pull-ups and I hope you get something sorted without too much cost.
Wheresmygin x

 

[Angie1996]

Thanks for your comments everyone. xx

I have bought him 40 so far, hopefully keep him going until his infection clears up.

 

[Toddleo]

just to echo what's gone before, our local authority provide a bladder and bowel service, and mum used to get delivered a mix of pullups (depend ones) and pads.

 

[Angie1996]

Why is it dictated by local authority? why is it not the same across Britain? this frustrates me...... its not fair.........

 

[Toddleo]

Why is it dictated by local authority? why is it not the same across Britain? this frustrates me...... its not fair.........

whoops I was wrong, it's the NHS who deal with it.

 

[la lucia]

Why is it dictated by local authority? why is it not the same across Britain? this frustrates me...... its not fair.........

It's the NHS that supplies them and it's the NHS that has been starved of funding.

Local Authorities have also been starved of funding although that's not relevant to the continence services.

We use the NHS pads and net pants during the day and I buy the Maxi pull-ups for the night. This at least reduces the cost. Buying the pull-ups in bulk (cases) from an online supplier also helps cut the cost and ensures you are not charged for the VAT.

 

[fizzie]

yes sorry slip of the pen it is of course the cash strapped NHS and that's why some areas don't get them at all (and i suspect this will become more common)

 

[nae sporran]

WE had a financial assessment recently for C's care package and they took into account how much we pay for pull up pants while assessing income and allowable outgoings. You may get your contribution to care reduced accordingly. I don't know if it's relevant to your situation or if you have asked about that Angie, but noticed your thread and thought I'd mention it.

 

[Slugsta]

Mum has, at last, just had her first delivery of continence supplies via the District Nurse. They were very reluctant to provide pull-ups but I pointed out that Mum dresses herself before the carers arrive and would not manage anything else - so pull-ups is what they have provided.

 

[susy]

Hi Angie,
The care home that your dad is in, is he toileted regularly? This may help to reduce his spillage as he won't be needing to go as much if he goes more often if you see what I mean.

I hope that you get some help from your NHS services soon. X


Sent from my iPhone using Talking Point

 

[Angie1996]

This thread is closed now, my dad passed away new years eve.

I can say when he was put on end of life care in December, and got full CHC funding, the nursing home used pull ups on him and did not charge for this.

So that was confusing, as I had to pay for them, but the nursing home did supply them for free.........