Children's continence clinic closure, Greenwich

In November 2016, Healthwatch Greenwich produced a report relating to the closure of the Children’s Continence Clinic.

This report outlines the background and potential impact of the closure of Greenwich’s Children’s Continence Clinic. It draws on information provided by service users, specialist nurses, charities, Public Health (part of Royal Borough of Greenwich), and national guidance to identify the possible impact of the closure and makes recommendations for future delivery.

The report presents feedback and case studies to demonstrate the potential impact of closure. Healthwatch stated within the report that based on the available information and conversations held with experts and members of the public, it was considered that the Children’s Continence Clinic was an essential specialist service for the local area.

The report made 5 recommendations on the following themes:

• COMMUNICATION: The Greenwich Clinical Commissioning Group (GCCG) and providers to adequately communicate with those using the services as well as making the public aware of the changes.

• SERVICE USER ENGAGEMENT: The GCCG and Royal Borough of Greenwich (RBG) seek the views of the most recent service users.

• IMPACT ASSESSMENT: The GCCG undertake a full impact assessment of the continence clinic, including the impact of its current closure.

• TEMPORARY PROVISION: The GCCG, RBG and Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust have agreed to recommission the service for three months and carry out a feasibility study. The report recommended that this should be extended to at least six months.

• LONG TERM PROVISION: The GCCG and RBG (including Public Health) to work together to explore long term provision of this service.

There was no response within the report from the Clinical Commissioning Group in terms of the commentary on the final report.