Treatment for urinary incontinence, offered to women by our Urogynaecology Department, will be changing significantly, thanks to a generous donation by the Derriford Hospital League of Friends.

The League of Friends has very kindly donated more than £29,000 to enable the department to purchase a flexible cystoscope kit, which will allow them to provide outpatient procedures to women with urinary incontinence.

“The purchasing and use of this kit will radically change our patient experience and waiting times,” explains Miss Anu Dua, Consultant Urogynaecologist at Plymouth Hospitals. “It will also, most importantly, change the quality of life of those women whose lives can be debilitated by urinary incontinence.

“By using this kit, we no longer need our patients to make multiple visits to the hospital for their pre-op consent and pre-op assessment. They are able to come in on the day, have the procedure and then go home after it is done. The majority of women will only need to stay with us for an hour or two.”

Staff in the department currently see and treat more than 1,500 patients each year, for conditions such as vaginal prolapse, urinary and faecal incontinence and they carry out over 400 surgical procedures every year. It is estimated that 75-80 women will be treated with the new kit each year.

Representatives from the League of Friends handed over the new piece of kit to Miss Dua and members of staff from the Urogynaecology Department at an official presentation.

“We are extremely grateful to the League of Friends for this incredibly generous donation and for giving us the opportunity to offer a treatment that will help significantly improve, and for some even change, the lives of women in Plymouth and surrounding areas,” added Miss Dua.

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