I recently attended The Pelvic Floor Society Conference, which was held this year in Southampton. It had a programme packed full of engaging and thought-provoking sessions.
The Allied Healthcare Professional (AHP) day was very well attended, and Emily Hoile (Physiotherapist) was introduced as the new chair of this committee. This day also featured a panel discussion on managing complex patients, introduced by Tatenda Marunde, an Advanced Nurse Practitioner from St Mark’s Hospital. I find sessions like these particularly valuable, as they provide practical insights and address challenges that many healthcare professionals encounter when navigating patient care.
The main conference programme was equally outstanding, covering a range of topics. Tom Dudding’s (Consultant Surgeon at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust presentation was about ‘Integrative buildings of networks across care systems’.
He highlighted the need and how to improve services of the future as set out in the ‘Seizing the opportunity to improve patient care: Pelvic Floor Services in 2021 and beyond’, which states that:
‘Pelvic floor services have long been at the back of the queue for funding and prioritisation.
Community continence services across the country are under-funded and under-resourced, with patients facing stark inequalities in care, dependent on the region in which they live’.
Tom set out how he sees the future with plans to establish a hub in the Wessex region for patient self-referral. This approach could greatly improve accessibility and streamline patient care pathways, making long waits to get to these services a thing of the past.
Mike Stanton, Consultant Paediatric Surgeon also at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, presented ‘Functional constipation and the antegrade continence enema in children: what can adult services learn from it‘. I was extremely pleased to see how rectal irrigation was thought of so highly in this session.
A standout moment for me was the presentation by the renowned Peter Whorwell (Director of the South Manchester Neurogastroenterology Service and a gastroenterologist at the University Hospital of South Manchester), who shared his experience with hypnotherapy and has been researching and treating patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) for more than 35 years. This presentation was truly inspiring, showcasing hypnotherapy as a highly effective approach, far beyond the common perceptions many of us may hold.
Overall, the conference provided an excellent opportunity to gain fresh perspectives and ideas, many of which have practical applications for clinical practice.
I’m very much looking forward to next year’s conference. Thank you to everyone who spoke to Qufora at our stand as well; it was lovely to see you all.
