Opening of first “see-and-treat” Colorectal Pelvic Floor Clinic at Nenagh Hospital

Monday 15th July, 2024 ¦ NENAGH Hospital staff have marked another significant advance in healthcare for women in the Mid-West region, with the opening of the first Colorectal Pelvic Floor Clinic at the hospital’s Regional Hub for Women’s Health.

The clinic not only allows patients of this region to access treatment locally for the first time, but also significantly reduces the time between the first symptoms of faecal incontinence and diagnosis and treatment of what can be a very debilitating condition for patients.

Management and staff in Nenagh have been working with colleagues across UL Hospitals Group for the past eighteen months to progress the clinic, which is just one of the services being offered at the hospital’s Ambulatory Gynaecological Unit.

The Colorectal Pelvic Floor Clinic is the latest in a range of services that have been provided at the AGU since it opened in March 2022, including abnormal intrauterine bleeding, chronic pelvic pain, evaluation of adnexal mass, vulval issues, sexual minority health, and amenorrhea in adolescence.

These services are one-stop, “see-and-treat” gynaecology clinics where women can be assessed and treated following a GP referral. This healthcare model aims to improve access to diagnostics and treatment, resulting in fewer hospital visits and reducing overall wait times for women.

Speaking at the end of the first clinic recently, Ms Christina Fleming, Consultant Colorectal Surgeon and Clinical Lead for the Colorectal Pelvic Floor Service, said she was particularly struck by “the enthusiasm and support of staff for advancing the healthcare of women in this region”.

“I’m delighted to play a small part in this,” Ms Fleming said. “This is a streamlined service, offering a significant reduction in patient episodes, as well as reducing the time from symptom development to diagnosis of faecal incontinence, which can be a very debilitating and embarrassing condition for women.”

“This is another example of the commitment of UL Hospitals Group to deliver on the advancement of treatments for women’s health conditions, which for a long time were under-served, in the Mid-West and nationally,” Ms Fleming added.

The Colorectal Pelvic Floor Clinic and Ambulatory Gynaecology Unit are located in the outpatients department at Nenagh Hospital as part of the Mid-West Regional Health Hub for Women. Supported by the Women’s Health Taskforce and the HSE National Women’s and Infants Health Programme (NWIHP), the hub also provides a menopause clinic and subfertility service. The Ambulatory Gynaecology Unit opened in March of 2022, one of a number of such units that opened across the country to improve outcomes for women thorough new one-stop see-and-treat gynaecologic clinics.