People living with incontinence face shortage of sanitary pads as NHS limits supplies | NHS
Millions of people with incontinence in the UK are facing shortages of sanitary products due to rationing of supplies by NHS trusts, according to a coalition of charities.
Shortages are leading to a “protection gap” where people have to pay for incontinence products themselves, according to an open letter from organizations including the Royal College of Nursing, Prostate Cancer UK and Bowel and Bladder UK.
Around 14 million people in the UK suffer from incontinence. NHS healthcare workers expect to put out up to five pads a day for patients with incontinence, research suggests, but Freedom of Information data from 110 NHS trusts shows more than half (53%) have a cap on product availability.
Of these trusts, 34% have a cap of three products per day, while the remaining 66% have a cap of four products per day, which is lower than expected needs.
Due to shortages, many people with incontinence and their families are forced to use their pension or Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to buy these products, while struggling to cover other basic costs.
The government is introducing ‘value-based purchasing’ across the NHS, meaning trusts must consider products that improve patients’ quality of life, whatever their cost.
According to the letter, these measures represent “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve health outcomes for all” which will benefit people with incontinence and ease the burden on NHS staff and carers.
Professor Alison Leary, vice-president of the Royal College of Nursing, said she often heard nurses worried about shortages of incontinence products. “Effective rationing of incontinence products means that staff and patients both suffer: patients do not receive the dignified care they need and nursing colleagues feel that they are not meeting patients’ basic needs,” Leary added.
Millie Baker, executive director of Bladder Health UK, said the consequences of inadequate incontinence care were not just clinical but deeply personal.
“People live with the shame of lingering body odor, anxiety about leaks or visible odors when leaving the house or socializing, and skin damage caused by the acidity of urine contacting delicate areas,” Baker said.
“Some avoid relationships, limit their clothing choices, or withdraw from daily life out of fear and embarrassment. Others suffer sleep disturbances due to leaking pads, emotional distress, or even infection. These are not small inconveniences – they are indignities that take away a person’s confidence, autonomy, and well-being. Dignity in continence care is therefore not an optional extra, but an essential component of compassionate and effective adult social care.”
NHS England has been contacted for comment.
