Urinary Catheter Care (archive)

In the frail elderly, catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is a common problem.

CAUTI is a frequent reason for morbidity and hospital admission from care homes and is the most common type of hospital-acquired infection.

Urinary incontinence leads to ~20% of elderly care home residents being catheterised, in hospitals the proportion is even higher. Symptoms of an infection often include rapid onset of confusion which can be very disturbing and debilitating. Treatment of a hospital acquired CAUTI adds ~£2000 to care costs, given the high number of elderly patients with CAUTIs they involve a large cost to the NHS.

We are developing a low-cost, disposable, device for use with existing urinary catheter systems. It will assess bioburden and antimicrobial sensitivity and give a more rapid read-out than conventional microbiology testing.