The Community Children and Young People's Bladder and Bowel Service supports children & young people with complex bladder and bowel conditions, aged 5 to 19 years old. 

The team provide advice, care plans and treatment to children registered with a GP within the boundaries of Vale Royal and South Cheshire.

The Children’s Bladder and Bowel Specialist Service consists of two Paediatric Nurses and one Assistant Practitioner, who are experienced in children’s bladder and bowel health. This is a community based service and the team holds weekly clinics as well as seeing some children and young people in school or their home if their need requires this.

The service is available Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.

What to expect following referral to the Community Bladder and Bowel service:

  • You will be asked to complete charts prior to your appointment to help the Specialist nurses assess your child’s bladder and bowel health.  These charts are important because they tell the nurse specific details about how your child’s bladder and bowels are working and help to identify areas to work on and the possible treatment options.
  • You and your child will have the opportunity to talk about your child’s continence issues and how it affects you both. All information is treated sensitively.
  • An assessment will be carried out, which will involve us finding out more about your child’s medical history and current symptoms. A ‘dipstick’ test on your child’s urine to look for infection should have been done before your appointment, usually by your GP but this may be repeated if indicated. 
  • During the appointment you will be given information about your child’s condition and will be involved in deciding the best course of action to help your child. This could include general advice, advice about drinks and diet, toileting, medication or alarm therapy (for bed-wetting).
  • For review appointments children and parents are often asked to continue to fill out charts to record success and progress. We aim to work in partnership with parents/carers and ask for their co-operation in our treatment plans.

This service provides assessment, treatment, support and advice to children and young people from age 5 to 19 years with the following issues:

  • Daytime wetting or bladder issues such as frequency and urgency
  • Constipation and soiling
  • Children with night time wetting
  • Children who are currently unable to become toilet trained: following a thorough assessment and having undertaken a toilet training programme for 6 months

Referrals can be completed by a GP or Paediatrician and link to their referral form is GP & Paediatrician referral form

Referrals can be completed by School Nurses & Health Visitors, click here to access the referral form. 

Referrals can be completed by Special School Nurses, click here to access the referral form. 

Other health professionals and allied professionals should request assessment from the School Nurse or Health Visitor team before referring to the service. 

“Bladder and bowel problems in childhood and young people are very common. These problems include difficulties with toilet training, wetting and/or soiling and can affect up to 28% of all children and adolescents at any one time”.  (Bladder and Bowel UK 2022)

Sometimes as a parent or carer you may feel like it is only you that is experiencing bladder and bowel difficulties with a child in your care.  If you are dealing with a wee or poo problem or caring for a child who has a continence condition, then help is out there for you.  If your child is of pre-school age then their Health Visiting team is available for help or if the child is of school age (5-19) then the school nursing team will be available for support and advice. Both of these services should offer an individual assessment and treatment for your child to support in resolving their bladder and/or bowel issue.

For those children and young people of school age (5-19) who have received support and advice for a period of at least 3 months with no improvement with their symptoms,  you can approach your GP/Health Visitor who can refer to the Community Specialist Paediatric Bladder and Bowel Service.

For toilet training referrals children will need to have had 6 months of assessment and a care plan in place before a referral is made. 

Email: 
CCICP.communitybladderbowelservice@mcht.nhs.uk

Telephone: 
01270 826360

Address:         
Paediatric Community Bladder & Bowel Service
CCICP
Infinity House
Mallard Way
Crewe Business Park
CW1 6ZQ

The Community Specialist Paediatric Bladder and Bowel Service is based at Infinity House, Mallard Way, Crewe. However, the team facilitates clinics all over the CCICP catchment area and also complete home and school visits.

General Resources 

Bowel Resources: 

Bladder Resources: 

Day time wetting

Bedwetting

Toilet Training Resources: 

A Guide to Toilet Training children of school age CCICP.pdf

Please help us keep our waiting times as short as possible by contacting our Community Bladder and Bowel office on 01270 826360 as soon as you can, if you cannot attend/no longer require the allocated appointment.

We want to improve the experience of children and teenagers by raising awareness amongst professionals.  With a good grounding in the basics of toilet training and an understanding of how to identify common continence problems, families have the best chance to help their child use the toilet independently. It's vital to work together with parents to give children consistent messages with ongoing praise and rewards.

The impact of getting the right support and information to deal with continence difficulties, is essential in ensuring success with these issues.  Providing families with knowledge and support around their child’s condition will help to reduce it’s impact on their social and psychological wellbeing, as well as boosting their confidence, allowing them to lead a ‘normal’ life.

Before a referral to the Community Bladder and Bowel Service will be considered, a level 1 assessment needs to be completed. Bladder and Bowel UK have produced guidance on this: click here. 

If following this guidance for at least 3 months (or 6 months for toilet training), has not resulted in the child being continent, then a referral to our service may be appropriate. Referral forms can be found under the 'how to I access this service' tab. 

Contact

Telephone: 01270 826360

Email: CCICP.communitybladderbowelservice@mcht.nhs.uk

Address: Paediatric Community Bladder & Bowel Service
CCICP
Infinity House
Mallard Way
Crewe Business Park
CW1 6ZQ