FAQs | Frequently Asked Questions

Peezy™ Midstream

There is no established protocol or standard for the collection of urine; Public Health England and NHS guidelines stipulate the following:

– Non-touch method of collection is recommended
Midstream is essential for accurate analysis. This requires the user to start the urine flow then position a tube under it until full, then remove it and finish urinating
– Spillage or splashing must be avoided
– Peezy Midstream will automatically meet these guidelines and ensures patient dignity too.

Urine is often regarded as a ‘window’ to health, which is why so many tests rely on a good sample for accurate diagnosis. The mid-stream sample (MSU) is recommended by NICE guidelines as giving the best specimen. Simply, when you start to pee, the first flush of urine will wash natural bacteria off the skin and into the sample. This can produce a false-positive result.

Contamination is usually caused by flora and bacteria entering the urine specimen from genital skin. or the hands. It can cause a mixed growth, which means that accurate analysis is impossible. This in turn will delay patient diagnosis and treatment. Peezy reduces contamination because the user’s hands do not come into contact with urine, or the patient.

Peezy Midstream is designed for use by men, women and children as long as they have a reasonably full bladder. It is especially good for pregnant women and anyone who needs assistance as a carer can hold the device in place by the tube without causing unnecessary embarrassment to either party.

8-10ml of urine pass through the device before midstream urine is diverted into the collection tube and captured.

Once first-pass urine has been rejected and midstream collected, excess urine passes through a second exit point so the funnel cannot overflow; it is engineered to work between 10-40ml second, the minimum and maximum urine streams for humans.

Peezy will capture 6-8ml of midstream urine in the 10ml Primary tube and around 20ml in the Universal Container. These amounts are adequate for routine analysis.

The Peezy Midstream kit includes the required tube. The Peezy PE40 kit uses a 30ml Universal Container and the PE50 uses the 10ml Primary tube, which fits directly into uninanalysers, removing any decanting process by frontline or laboratory staff.

The freshly expanded sponge that acts as a midstream diverter needs to drain; 10 seconds will allow this to happen, so that no urine drips onto you or the toilet after use.

Used Peezy funnels should be disposed of into yellow-bag waste along with other materials that have been in contact with potentially hazardous waste such as urine.

Any urine specimen should be stored in a refrigerator until it is transported to the lab; it should reach its destination within four hours of collection. If a longer period is needed, then the Peezy Midstream Boric Acid kits should be used; Boric Acid is a preservative and will extend the storage time to approximately one day, although no precise data has been located.

Boric Acid is a widely accepted preservative not known to adversely affect the urine specimen being sent for culture.

Peezy is available to patients on prescription and to clinical staff through the NHS Supply Chain and distributors in the UK and USA. Please visit our BUY page to find out more.

Patients (women and men) are often told to “start, stop and start again”. This process means the first flush described above is rejected into the toilet. When you stop for a moment, you must position your Universal Container or jug where the stream falls, and hope you catch it when you start again. The Peezy MSU system makes life a lot easier, cleaner and dryer by automatically capturing your MSU without any fuss – or tricky pelvic floor manoeuvres.

Peezy MSU looks simple, but is actually very highly engineered. It has undergone rigorous testing and numerous patient trials in a number of medical settings and is now used as standard in some of the UK’s best hospitals. Simply, Peezy MSU allows the first flush of urine to escape through the base of the funnel. A small sponge inflates to stem the flow, and directs the mid-stream into the standard Universal Container. A clever duct diverts any excess urine away from the specimen and into the toilet, which means the funnel cannot overflow. Peezy MSU is designed to work at urine stream flow rates of between 10ml/second and 40ml/second, the widely accepted lowest and highest for female urine.

Peezy MSU works for every woman. It has been cleverly designed to fit any female perineum comfortably, regardless of size, weight, age or dexterity.

It is also very good to use with children, the elderly and patients with learning difficulties, because the carer can hold Peezy MSU in place by the container (and they won’t get their hand wet either.) This method removes the risk of unwelcome contact or the need for the patient to announce the start of the flow. They simply ‘go’ when ready and Peezy MSU does the rest.

The problem of how to capture an accurate MSU has been around for as long as specimen collection. There are a number of urine collection methods in use, but none we know about will help capture the mid-stream as effectively as Peezy MSU, the acknowledged leader in its field. Invented by an NHS GP, Peezy MSU has won accolades for its design and efficiency from the NHS and from the UK’s most prestigious national design awards. Happily, Peezy MSU is available to all NHS medical settings through the NHS Supply Chain. Always ask for it.

Manufacturing & Regulatory

Peezy Midstream is registered with the MHRA in the UK and the FDA in the USA; these are the two most influential regulatory bodies through which approval is given for medical application of devices.

Yes. We manufacture under license with Boddingtons, Marden, Kent where quality control is rigorous and all products meet regulatory standards such as ISO:13485:2015, CE mark and more. Please visit Boddingtons’ website for more information

Peezy is made with injection moulded Polypropylene can be recycled; however, once urine has passed through the device it should be incinerated in line with guidelines for hazardous waste disposal. Recycling would involve collection, sterilization, re-assembly and packaging, which flies in the face of infection control guidelines but is less environmentally responsible, unhygienic and expensive.