The Bladder and Bowel UK investigation found wide variation in access to adult continence services with patients waiting more than a year for treatment in some parts of England.

Tracy Whitehouse, service manager and adult specialist nurse at Bladder and Bowel UK, said: ‘The guidance is clear; many continence conditions are both treatable and manageable when patients receive appropriate assessment and intervention. The impact that prolonged delays have on patients' health, dignity and quality of life is immeasurable.'

Earlier FOI research this year found some NHS trusts were rationing continence products, prompting health experts, charities and patient groups to back the #EndThePadGap campaign, which called for an end to arbitrary limits on the number and type of incontinence products supplied to patients.

Campaigners are calling for better national oversight of adult continence services, clearer accountability for trusts that do not follow clinical guidance, and an end to arbitrary restrictions on continence products.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘We know more must be done to ensure people struggling with continence get the right support – wherever they live.

‘It is up to local NHS organisations to decide how best to allocate resources to meet continence needs in their areas, but we expect national clinical guidance to be followed which outlines that care should be safe, effective and uphold dignity.

‘This Government is committed to shifting care out of hospitals and into local communities, making it easier for people to access support closer to home.'