Continence specialist keynote speaker at ground breaking Spanish conference
Kath Wilkinson, nurse consultant and continence service manager with NHS Bradford and Airedale, was a keynote speaker at a ground breaking conference in Barcelona targeting urinary incontinence healthcare professionals from both Spain and the UK.
Staged at Barcelona’s Centro Médico Teknon Hospital, the event was attended by 120 delegates – among them urologists, gynaecologists, primary care physicians, nurses and physiotherapists working in both hospitals and out-patient facilities.
It was organised by the Spanish-based Continentia Association and followed an initial joint meeting in January, 2009, between continence professionals from the UK-based Clinical Continence Supervision Group (CCSG) and the Urodynamics Unit of Centro Médico Teknon.
Following the success of the first conference, there are now plans to hold similar events in the future to further develop the international partnership and share knowledge and best practice on diagnosis and treatment of urinary incontinence, with accreditation from both Spanish and European health authorities
Kath Wilkinson has over 30 years’ nursing experience and has developed a special interest and expertise in urinary catheterisation. Based at Eccleshill Clinic in Bradford, she is currently responsible for providing in-house continence and catheter training for health and social care staff across Bradford and Airedale.
Kath is a member of the CCSG, which comprises senior nurses working in continence care across the UK, and current chair of the Royal College of Nursing Continence Care Forum, which gives her the opportunity to influence policy and education at a national level.
As one of the UK’s leading authorities in this specialist field, Kath was invited to address the Spanish conference on the topic: ‘A virtual approach to catheter care education.’
Last year, she was among key personnel from Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust who developed a new training course, ‘The Management of Urinary Catheterisation for Adults,’ in partnership with the national Healthcare e-Academy, which delivers clinical and non-clinical online training programmes via the internet to the NHS and is an operating division of online training pioneer Virtual College, of Ilkley, West Yorkshire.
The training module, primarily designed to improve catheter care and reduce healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs), has had a major impact. Earlier this year, the course received Royal College of Nursing (RCN) accreditation.
Kath commented: “The conference allowed us to share ideas, because the way continence care is delivered in Spain, with its private healthcare system, is completely different to the UK. The Healthcare e-Academy opened up access to its urinary catheterisation management course to all delegates and there was a great deal of interest.
“We learned some valuable lessons and are now looking to develop and cement links by staging a follow-up conference next year. In the interim, a physiotherapist from Spain is planning to come over and work in this country to learn more about our urinary catheterisation techniques.”
Judith Clarkson, Virtual College’s divisional director of e-academies, said: “The training module has made a major impact among UK healthcare sector personnel. We are more than happy to share our experiences and expertise with fellow healthcare professionals in Spain.”