Many thousands of urinary tract infections (UTIs) are linked to the insertion of an indwelling urethral catheter (Saint et al 2000). Catheterisation is often prolonged unnecessarily (Saint et al 2002), thereby increasing the infection risk. In this audit of 133 medical and surgical patients who were catheterised in an acute NHS hospital trust, the potential of a new silver alloy hydrogel-coated catheter to reduce the rate of infection was demonstrated. Benefits were indicated in terms of reducing clinical risk to the patient and the financial costs associated with treating catheter-associated UTIs, representing a substantial cost saving for the NHS.