Spire hospital gets new X-ray equipment

A private hospital is set to feature in a Channel 4 documentary entitled Embarrassing Illnesses on April 30th. Spire Gatwick Park Hospital, one of Spire Healthcare's 25 private hospitals in the UK, uses botox injections to treat patients with urinary incontinence. The toxin, which is more widely known to members of the general public as a cosmetic filler, is now being used to reduce the bladder muscle spasms that trigger urinary incontinence. "Botulinum toxin has been shown - in multiple clinical trials - to be an effective solution for the vast majority of patients," said Mike Swinn, consultant urologist at Spire Gatwick Park Hospital. "Ninety per cent of patients respond positively to treatment and a single treatment controls the problem for up to average of nine months before being repeated," he revealed. The procedure can be performed under general or local anaesthetic and patients are not required to stay overnight. Between three and six million people in the UK are thought to have some degree of incontinence, which is particularly common in women who have had children.