Pic: L- R Physiotherapists Christine Harrison, Milly Zoeftig, Ella McCluskey, Jemima Sanders and Kathryn Elias. Pic credit Swansea Bay University Health Board
A prevention-focused project which created community sessions to empower and educate women on pelvic health has been shortlisted for a national award.
Swansea Bay’s pelvic health physiotherapy team introduced an innovative model which transformed the way women can access information and support.
Self-referral education sessions held in community venues across Swansea Bay, including leisure centres and supermarket community rooms, have helped to increase access to specialist support.
The team also provides evening online sessions, enabling women to attend at a time that suits them without the need for a GP referral.
Delivered by the health board’s pelvic health physiotherapy team, the sessions cover information on bladder symptoms, such as leaking when jumping or exercising, or bladder overactivity.
Available to those aged 16 and over, they also discuss menopause, menstrual health, faecal incontinence, prolapse symptoms, pain with intercourse and more.
By redesigning the pathway and providing accessible education sessions in the community, the service has seen its waiting list reduced from 12 weeks to three.
More than 350 women have already benefited from the sessions so far.
Now, the project has been shortlisted in the Person-Centred Care category at this year’s NHS Wales Awards.
Jordanna Roberts, Swansea Bay’s Deputy Head of Physiotherapy, said: “We wanted to create a prevention-focused community model to help improve access, empower women and also reduce pressure on wider services.
“Previously, access often relied on referrals from GPs and hospital-based pathways.
“We redesigned the pathway from a reactive, secondary care service into a prevention-focused, community-based model.
“The new self-referral pathway removed unnecessary barriers and provided patients with a direct route into specialist pelvic health physiotherapy.”
The team engaged with members of the public to understand the type of support they felt was needed.
In addition to the education sessions, digital resources were also made available as part of Swansea Bay’s women’s health hub – an online information hub which provides information and advice on a range of topics.
Data collected by the service highlighted that patients felt more confident with pelvic floor exercises, while others felt they no longer needed a GP appointment regarding their symptoms.
“The impact has been significant,” Jordanna added.
“Patient confidence improved by over 50 per cent across all of our measures, with confidence in pelvic floor exercises and lifestyle management increasing by around 76 per cent.
“One third of symptomatic attendees said they no longer needed a GP appointment after coming to an education session, highlighting a reduction in avoidable primary care demand.
“It has helped to empower women with self-management, reduce demand on primary care, and improve women’s health outcomes and reduce health inequalities.”
Having been shortlisted at the NHS Wales Awards, the team will now have to wait until November for the winners to be announced at this year’s event in Cardiff.
Rebecca Kennedy, Swansea Bay’s Head of Physiotherapy, said: “It has been very rewarding to see this project develop and the obvious positive impact it has had on the lives of ladies in the Swansea Bay area.
“This is a great example of sustainable service change and empowering patients with the knowledge they need to improve their health and wellbeing.
“The team has done an outstanding job, and we are extremely proud of their achievement.”
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