Faecal incontinence: improving care and removing stigma

Nurse Kelly Stackhouse set up a service that streamlines care for people with bowel dysfunction

‘I had seen four different doctors at two hospitals and all offered me a colostomy bag as I had no control over my bladder or bowel,’ recalls Gaynor Monk. ‘I was only in my 50s but was in a right mess with no control at all.

‘Kelly Stackhouse and her team at Rowley Regis Hospital gave me my life back and I am forever grateful to her for that. They are helping people who really feel they are past help and that no one cares because it's a problem that has a taboo attached to it.’

Faecal incontinence is a common, distressing and debilitating condition, which remains largely