An assessment of catheterisation outcome was
undertaken in a total of 133 patients admitted to
medical and surgical wards during 2003 and
2004. During the baseline period 55 patients (23
females, 32 males) were monitored, and a further
78 patients (43 females, 35 males) were monitored
in the evaluation period following introduction of
the silver alloy hydrogel-coated Foley catheter.
The current audit included all adult patients at
the hospital who, between November 17 and
December 19 2003, underwent insertion of an
indwelling urinary catheter for continuous
bladder drainage for longer than 24 hours.
Exclusion criteria applied to patients who had a
UTI on admission, those who had long-term
indwelling urinary catheters or suprapubic
catheters, any patient unable to be contacted by
telephone or convalescing outside the trust's
catchment area, and all urology patients.
Patients were monitored daily throughout their
inpatient stay, and were followed up for seven to
ten days after catheter removal or discharge,
whichever was soonest. The audit recorded a
range of data relevant to the audit objectives,
including details of any confirmed UTIs or
symptoms of a UTI ( Box 2 ). This was achieved
through prospective monitoring of catheterised
patients by the research/audit nurse for signs and
symptoms of infection. Assessment of
symptomatic UTI was made using criteria outlined
in Box 3. A UTI was considered to be catheterassociated
if the patient had an indwelling urethral
catheter in place at the time of onset of UTI, or had
an indwelling urethral catheter removed within
seven days before the onset ofthe UTI.
At discharge, patients were given a
mid-stream specimen of urine (MSU) pack
containing a boric acid urine specimen pot,
patient information leaflet, and a microbiology
request form. They were given full instructions
for its correct use as well as a full explanation
of the aims of the audit. Verbal consent was
obtained from each of the patients included in