Jackie Hoadley has slammed NHS cuts (Picture: Jackie Hoadley)

An angry mother says the NHS has ‘robbed’ her two disabled children of ‘basic human rights’ by cutting their daily allowance of free incontinence pads.

Jackie Hoadley, 57, told Metro.co.uk that it now costs her £1,600 a year to stop her kids from ‘sitting in their own urine and faeces’.

Her children Mathew, 15, and Ellie, 8, both suffer from brain damage, epilepsy and double incontinence.

They have round-the-clock care and are fed through the bowel and Ellie is also registered as blind.


Both have to wear incontinence pads 24 hours a day, with Mathew often being changed twice before school.

The East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust used to provide each child with five pads a day, following an assessment by a specialist nurse.

Jackie’s children used to receive five pads every 24 hours, but now get three (Picture: Jackie Hoadley)

But in April, bosses sent out a letter stating that they had cut the allowance to three.



Jackie says this has ‘robbed her children of their dignity’ and put ‘yet another burden’ on parents of children with disabilities.

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She said: ‘Ellie has got a slow emptying bladder, which means it smells if you don’t change her.

‘That’s not nice when you’re out and about and people say “Ew what’s that smell?” Mathew’s skin is also prone to breaking down if you don’t change his pads enough.’

She continued: ‘It’s abusive in the sense because if we left our children wet and they got sores, social services would be coming round, knocking on the door, saying “Why have you not changed your child?”

‘It’s also another thing that children with disabilities, and people with disabilities, have to fight for, which they really shouldn’t be doing.

Mathew and Ellie both require round-the-clock care (Picture: Jackie Hoadley)

‘You should be looking after the children and looking after the adults. I mean, how many times would you go to the toilet?

‘If you’ve been to the toilet three times in a day, it’s basically saying you can’t go again. That’s not right. That’s against human rights.’

When Jackie complained about the new rules to the Head of Services at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, she was told that there was nothing they could do to help.

But the mother-of-two has now taken action, starting a Change.org petition that asks The Department for Health and Social Care to ensure that all people with disabilities are given as many incontinence pads as they need.

The petition has blown up online and currently stands at 75,000 signatures.

Jackie said: ‘They think us parents don’t fight for our children. We’re fighting all the time for our kids. We’ve got so much on our plates making sure that they’re safe and healthy.’

The East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust sent a letter to Jackie in April (Picture: Jackie Hoadley)

She added that, while the additional cost for the pads is not taking a big toll on her family’s finances yet, it ‘will do’.

Jackie said: ‘We’re just about surviving, but we’ll get there. We’ll have to do without.

‘People up here with limited incomes can’t afford to pay extra for pads because they’ve got to pay for other things like heat and clothing. The benefits won’t cover it.’



Her petition is supported by Stephen Lloyd, MP for Eastbourne, who raised the issue of families paying extra in Parliament on June 18.

Mr Lloyd was promised a meeting with Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, but told Metro.co.uk that this had not yet happened.

He said: ‘Despite the shambolic period Mr Johnson’ government have been through over the last couple of months I’m very disappointed the commitment made to meet with me by the Secretary of State in the Chamber has yet to be fulfilled.’

The mum-of-two’s petition has received almost 75,000 signatures (Picture: Jackie Hoadley)

Jackie says her family is ‘just about surviving’ (Picture: Jackie Hoadley)

When asked for comment on Jackie’s story, the East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, NHS Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), NHS Hastings and Rother CCG and NHS High Weald Lewes Havens CCG made the following joint statement.

It said: ‘Last year the Children’s Bladder and Bowel Service reviewed its contribution to the provision of continence products.

‘The review looked at the way continence products were provided in neighbouring Trusts to make sure provision in East Sussex was both equitable and sustainable.

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‘Following the review we now offer parents a contribution of up to three products a day where required.

‘We know that these products are important to families but these changes will mean that we can continue to provide a service that is both high quality and cost effective.

‘The changes are being monitored and we continue to engage with families affected, so we provide the best possible care to children.’

They added: ‘The review also included an emphasis on the education and advice elements that the service has always delivered to help support its service users and move it away from the perception that it is a product provider which has never been the main role or intention of the team.’

The statement said that families in East Sussex have an option to ‘make easy top-up payments with the same provider that ESHT use, which includes a discount compared to purchasing products elsewhere as well as direct deliveries’.