Risk assessments are processes of identifying risks that exist or may appear. Risk assessments define and assess hazards that are likely to cause harm to service users and/or staff. This allows services to comply with CQC regulation 12: Safe Care and treatment. This regulation states “Providers must assess the risks to people’s health and safety during any care or treatment ”, “Providers must make sure that the premises and any equipment used is safe”  and “CQC understands that there may be inherent risks in carrying out care and treatment, and we will not consider it to be unsafe if providers can demonstrate that they have taken all reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of people using their services and to manage risks that may arise during care and treatment.”

This risk assessment is for the risk associated with an indwelling urethral catheter. A urinary catheter is a flexible tube used to empty the bladder and collect urine in a drainage bag. Urinary catheters can either be inserted through the tube that carries urine out of the bladder or through a small opening made in your lower abdomen. The catheter usually remains in the bladder, allowing urine to flow through it and into a drainage bag