A form giving district nurses permission to catheterise a patient if required could be beneficial for those administering end of life care, as well as enabling them to make patients with urinary incontinence or retention more comfortable, nurses say.

Writing in the Nursing Times, continence nurse specialist Jane Young and district nurse team leader Colette Conway explain that a GP is required to give authorisation for catheterisation.

This can cause delays in care, however, particularly when consent is required outside normal surgery hours.

To address the issue, nurses at Central and North West London Foundation Trust developed a consent form that could be signed by a GP in advance, granting permission to catheterise a particular patient if required.

Once completed, the form is kept in the patient's home notes so there is no delay in performing the procedure as necessary.

The nurses wrote: "The consent form received positive feedback from community nursing staff and GPs, especially the twilight nursing team who see patients up to midnight.

"National guidance for nurses on end of life catheterisation would ensure standardised practice, and health professionals should continue to look at ways to proactively manage patients approaching the end of life."