A pilot initiative which has markedly improved the lives of people in some Lanarkshire care homes has been praised by a national health chief.

Last year The Care Home Continence Improvement project set out to improve approaches to continence care.

Professor Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director of Healthcare Quality and Strategy for The Scottish Government, recently met core members of the team during a visit to South Lanarkshire Council’s David Walker Gardens in Rutherglen, one of the care homes where the initiative had been tested. “I was hugely impressed by the work piloted by the team. This is ground-breaking and innovative partnership working at its best – centred around human dignity,” said Professor Leitch.

Research has identified incontinence as a risk factor that increases skin damage, infection and falls in older people.

During the visit, Professor Leitch learned how the initiative allowed care home staff to improve the quality of care through better recording of processes and introducing small changes including medication reviews and reducing caffeine intake.

The outcomes of the project – also piloted at Summerlee House in Coatbridge – has led to improvements including a reduction in falls by 65%, urinary infections being halved and skin damage reduced by one third.