WHO WE ARE

Wendy Colley spent 26 years working in the specialty of continence care, 16 years of which were spent as a specialist nurse for West Cumbria, although an interest in this specialty dates back to the early 1980’s. In 1990 she completed the first edition of the Colley Model, an assessment pathway for the assessment of bladder problems in adults. The purpose of the model was to enable those assessing adults with bladder problems, to reach a diagnosis and plan a realistic treatment programme, or refer to other professionals if indicated. Overall, this would give patients an improved outcome by treating the underlying cause of the symptoms. The Colley Model won the Sir Bernard Tomlinson Quality of Care Award in the Northern Region in 1992, following a project using the model to assess and treat continence problems in people with dementia in a long-stay setting. In 2000, Wendy was awarded an OBE for ‘Services to Continence Nursing in West Cumbria’.

Over the years, the model has been updated and available in different formats.

In 2018, a specialist bladder and bowel nurse suggested the model was again updated and made available, along with an assessment form, to those carrying out an initial assessment of bladder symptoms, as a practical tool to support the assessment process.

With input from bladder and bowel specialists and the kind support from the Absorbent Hygiene Products Manufacturers Association (AHPMA) for a grant to fund the website, this work is now complete and available to all. The site is free from any advertising and no one involved in this update has received any payment. All the work has been done on a voluntary basis and in contributors own time and remotely, so as not to incur additional costs.

Grateful thanks are therefore due to those opposite for freely sharing their professional knowledge in the pursuit of improved diagnosis and treatment for those who present with bladder symptoms.

Written and edited by
Wendy Colley OBE
Retired nurse