Bowel and Bladder service - children

We are a team of specialist children’s nurses and specialist nursery nurses who provide assessment, treatment, support and advice for children and young people with bladder and/or bowel difficulties.

We are based in Exeter and provide community-based clinics in Devon and Torbay.

We specialise in the treatment of:

Day and night time wetting
Constipation and soiling
Delayed toilet training for children with additional needs

We provide continence promotion, and healthy bladder and bowel advice for children with additional needs. We see and assess children who are eligible for continence products because of a learning or physical disability. (Please see our service leaflet for children with additional needs).

We also advise parents, pre-schools and schools about specialist treatments, such as intermittent catheterisation and anal irrigation to help manage their children’s bladder and bowel.

Where to find us

We give you the choice of where you would like to be seen. Clinics are currently run from:

Barnstaple: North Devon District HospitalHospital
Bideford: Bideford medical centre
Bideford: Bideford Hospital
Budleigh Salterton: Budleigh Hub/Hospital
Exeter: Whipton Children’s centre
Tiverton: Tiverton Hospital
Newton Abbott: Newton Abbott Hospital
Okehampton: Okehampton hospital
South Molton: South Molton Hospital
Honiton

Your child's appointment

Before you come to a bladder and bowel appointment

You will be sent a bladder and bowel diary to be completed prior to your appointment. Please complete the diary following the guidance and return it to us once you have done so. When we have received your completed diary we will send you a letter inviting you to phone in to make your first appointment.

What happens at a bladder and bowel clinic appointment?

Please allow approximately 1 hour for your first appointment. You will have the opportunity to talk to your specialist nurse about your/ your child’s problems. An assessment will be completed and we will look at your completed bladder and bowel diary. You will be given information about your/ your child’s condition and will be involved in making a plan of care that will best help you/ your child. You/your child will be expected to follow the plan at home/school/college and complete any charts that you may be given to record progress and success. The plan will be reviewed regularly either as a telephone consultation or in clinic.

We would encourage you to contact us between appointments if you have any concerns/ queries about your/your child’s care plan.

Useful websites

www.eric.org.uk (download leaflets including potty training, constipation, daytime wetting, night time wetting
www.bladderandboweluk.co.uk

CONfidence app

Do you experience bladder or bowel leakage? You are definitely not alone and there are things you can do to try to improve your symptoms. Even occasional leakage should not be ignored.

The free CONfidence app provides practical help at your fingertips. It brings together trusted and reliable information, informed by national experts providing specialist bladder and bowel care.

Download the CONfidence app and explore the information to help you take control.