This 45 minute session provides a clear and practical introduction to the fundamentals of stoma care. Designed for nurses and other healthcare professionals caring working in acute and community settings caring for individuals living with a stoma. The session encompasses essential knowledge to support safe, confident and person-centred practice. Focusing on understanding stoma formation, recognising key differences between the stoma types, and identifying common complications requiring escalation to the Specialist Nurse in Stoma Care.

Faecal calprotectin (FCP) is a validated biomarker of intestinal inflammation widely used in the management of Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Introducing point-of-care (POC) FCP testing into daily practice enables proactive, timely, and cost-effective disease management, given that they are provided gratis as part of the treatment. At East Kent Hospitals we successfully utilise this essential test to proactively manage our caseload of patients on biological therapies, reducing hospital admissions and the added costs of hospital tests. This is not only a proactive approach to patient management but a more cost effective route for the Trust with considerable cost savings.