| Barriers to screening and treating patients with FI | n (%) |
|---|---|
| Insufficient skills | 703 (56.1) |
| FI not common or significant enough to justify enquiring with patient | 95 (7.6) |
| Concerns that patient may not be receptive to screening or intervention | 378 (30.1) |
| Insufficient time to screen or provide intervention | 150 (12.0) |
| Insufficient support from specialists | 178 (14.2) |
| Wish to avoid further referrals of patients with FI in the future | 38 (3.0) |
| Perception that FI has no effective treatment, so screening is futile | 83 (6.6) |
| Perception that FI is not the most important issue during the consultation | 115 (9.2) |
| Lack of interest in screening or treating FI | 70 (5.6) |
| GP’s embarrassment to ask patients about any bowel leakage | 50 (4.0) |
| Avoidance of patient’s embarrassment if probed about bowel leakage problems | 113 (9.0) |
| Perception that FI should only be treated by specialists in the field | 76 (6.1) |
| Facilitators to screening and treating patients with FI | |
| Knowing exactly who to refer to | 1071 (84.6) |
| Knowing exactly where to refer to | 938 (74.1) |
| Easier referral pathway | 583 (46.1) |
| More resources to assist | 677 (53.5) |
| Having effective treatments available | 567 (44.8) |
| Belief among GPs that screening and intervention are important | 590 (46.6) |
| Having more detailed communication from specialists after referral | 609 (48.1) |
| Having less detailed communication from specialists after referral | 75 (5.9) |
| Access to up-to-date management guidelines and recommendations | 898 (70.9) |
| Further training to allow GP to be more comfortable talking to patients about FI | 570 (45.0) |
| Further training to allow GP to be more knowledgeable treating FI | 860 (67.9) |
| No facilitators identified | 42 (3.3) |
Totals for individual items may not equal 1285 owing to missing data. FI = faecal incontinence.