Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether adult and paediatric incontinence is classified as a long-term medical condition by the NHS.

The National Health Service supports patients with health problems that affect them over both the short and long term. Adult and pediatric continence challenges are already being considered as part of the National Bowel and Bladder Health Project to support the delivery of the ambitions of the Excellence in Continence Care Programme within the NHS. This is led by NHS England and NHS Improvement and is aimed at improving the experience of care for patients and their carers.

This programme will work towards a model of care which takes into account the expertise and resources of the people with long-term conditions and their communities, which the National Bowel and Bladder project aims to support via the clinical pathway workstreams. This will help to provide a holistic approach to patient care and lives, and help individuals achieve the best outcomes possible.