Nursing team shortlisted for Nursing Times Awards | News

Our Prostate Clinical Nurse Specialists, Maria Innes and Helen Casson, are celebrating being shortlisted for a Nursing Times Award for their work introducing a self-removal of catheter option for patients recovering from Robotic Assisted Radical Prostatectomy. 

Introducing this option means that patients who are referred from across the South East to have their radical prostatectomy at the Trust do not need to return to hospital for the removal of their catheter seven days after their operation. Instead, our nursing team provides teaching to the patients prior to discharge, as well as written instructions and access to a demonstration video so that they can carry this out in the comfort of their own home.

This initiative has seen the team shortlisted for the new Sustainability in Nursing and Midwifery category, for the benefits this it brings in reducing energy usage, costs and time.  

At the time of entering for the award, 656 men had successfully removed their urethral catheter at home and 39 successfully removed their suprapubic catheter at home without any immediate complications.

The scheme was launched in May 2022 as part of Urology Consultant Wissam Abou-Chedid's Clinical Champions Improvement project.

Maria said: “We are all really proud and excited to be shortlisted for this Nursing Times Award and to have our work celebrated in this way.”

Offering patients’ the option to remove their catheter at home contributes to Royal Surrey’s aims to reduce our carbon footprint, in line with the aims of the NHS Green Plan. Patient travel contributes to around five per cent of the NHS’s carbon footprint. 

The team will find out if they are the overall category winners in October.

Photo caption. Pictured above from left to right, Maria Innes, Prostate Clinical Nurse Specialist, Dr Wissam Abou Chedid, Urology Consultant, and Helen Casson, Prostate Clinical Nurse Specialist.