Nurses are among those supporting a trust in the North East of England to pilot sanitary bins in male toilets, to help raise awareness about male incontinence.
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has become the first hospital trust in the region to install sanitary bins in its male toilets.
“The installation of the bins and accompanying information posters have been life-changing for our patients”
Sam Davison
The initiative has been rolled out at the James Cook University Hospital site and the trust said it had already received positive feedback from staff and patients.
The move has the support of Prostate Cancer UK’s Boys Need Bins campaign, which raises awareness about male incontinence and the need for bins in male toilets.
The charity has been working with the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Bladder and Bowel Continence Care to get the government to make it law to have bins in all male toilets across the country.
It comes as one in three men over 65 in the UK are estimated to experience urinary incontinence, with 95% of these feeling anxiety around the lack of sanitary bins in toilets, according to Prostate Cancer UK.
Sam Davison, a clinical procurement specialist nurse at the James Cook University Hospital, helped to lead the rollout at the site.
He said: “The aim of the Boys Need Bins campaign really struck a chord that, as a hospital who performs prostate, bladder and colorectal surgery and radiotherapy procedures daily, we had never considered the lack of available resources for our patients.”
Mr Davison noted that, while female hygiene sanitary bins were a legal requirement, the trust had “never thought about the lack of provision in place” in male toilets.
He added: “The installation of the bins and accompanying information posters have been life-changing for our patients.
“They can now attend their hospital appointments comfortably knowing they have somewhere to safely dispose of their sanitary waste.”
Following the success of the pilot roll out, the Teesside trust said it planned to install more sanitary bins in male toilets across the organisation.
Nick Ridgman, head of health information and clinical support at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “When a man living with incontinence needs to go into hospital, he should only be thinking about getting better — not worrying about whether he’ll be able to get rid of his used pads privately and hygienically.
“It is really important to us that South Tees has now introduced sanitary bins for patients and staff in its hospitals.
“As part of our Boys Need Bins campaign, we’re doing everything we can to get the law changed so that every man in the UK always has access to a proper bin, but in the meantime it’s exciting that real progress is happening in Teesside.”
