ASCN UK News

All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Bladder, Bowel and Continence Care, June 11th, Houses of Parliament.

Date: 23 June 2025

ASCN UK were delighted to have been invited to attend the APPG, in early June, to represent the interests of Specialist Stoma Care nurses and then in turn ostomates and Carole and Natasha were able to attend.

The event was hosted by Jodie Gosling, MP for Nuneaton, and the session was opened by Sir Robert Francis KC. There was representative from clinicians working in all forums of continence, bladder and bowel care and we heard presentations on a wide variety of issued within that field. Natasha presented to the group on the Advancing Stoma Care Services Project (ASCS) and the work that ASCN UK are doing.

It was also a fantastic forum for sharing the challenges, and successes, we clinicians are experiencing; these are shared across the board and whilst this does not lessen them for us it was reassuring to know we are ‘not alone’. Besides the presentations there was plenty of discussion and sharing which is always interesting and inspiring.

The meeting was written about in the Nursing Times (NT) in the June 13^th issue so take a look, and the NT team have asked if we are able to provide a follow-up interview which we have, of course, agreed to. This is a great opportunity to really shine a light on the value of specialist stoma care nurses and the impact we have on patients and the healthcare landscape and economy.

It was a real privilege to be at this meeting, with fellow clinicians from all over the UK and with inspiring people experts by experience including Olympian Pete Reed OBE who spoke of his own journey and the vital value of raising the profile of what are still taboo health conditions.

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