Disabled access

[Magpiemagpie]

Posting here for traffic & I hope this make sense .
When entering a public building such as a bar or a hotel .Is it reasonable to expect that when you have a disabled ramp leading up to the entrance of restaurant ,at the actual restaurant entrance you then have to take step down in order to enter the restaurant area, there is no ramp access to the restaurant itself only up to the actual door entrance .
Shouldn't there be a ramp on the other side of the entrance to enable wheelchair access instead of the step as at no point can a wheelchair user access the restaurant area safely because of the step .

Yes I would have thought there should be another ramp inside to access the restaurant area

Thank you I am so bloody angry
An elderly relative was in a wheelchair being pushed up the ramp and as they got to the entrance of the resturant the person pushing the relative didn't realise that there wasn't a ramp at the other side .

This resulted in the wheelchair tipping over step and the elderly relative who is 85 being thrown out of the wheelchair and they have suffered terrible terrible bruising of the face ,her eyes & nose are completly swollen up and she can't see out of one of her eyes a big cut on her head and numerous other bruise all over her body it really is horrific .
She is also as you can imagine in a considerable amount of pain .
She spent several hours in hospital afterwards and is in s right mess

The companys attitude about this has been disgusting to say the least and I'm wondering if they have broken the law with regards to not having a ramp on the other side to ensure access .

Would it be worth making a complaint to Health & Safety
I took lots of pictures of the ramp and the lack of ramp and I have several witness who saw what happend

The complaint would not be to the HSE, it would be to the local council. They enforce issues like this in these sorts of premises.

Ask the company for the details of their Public Liability Insurance. That should get their attention.

Hope the lady recovers soon..

Thank you

Sue them.

What a horrible thing to happen, Op, hope your relative gets over this soon.
Is the restaurant part of a national chain that you can complain to?
Your local paper might be interested in this story too, if your relatives
Is agreeable. The publicity would be very bad for the business, so might be worth threatening this, even if you have no intention of actually doing it.
Twitter/Tripadvisor?
Maybe even consider one of those no win no fee legal companies.

That's terrible and yeah I would report. Buildings have to have reasonable access for wheelchairs. So it's unreasonable to expect a 16th century castle to put ramps up everywhere but totally reasonable to not expect a ramp to end with s step down. What arses

The key I would think would be if there was any kind of warning about the step, small steps (kerb height) can be safely negotiated with a wheel chair if of course you know it's there! If there was no kind of adequate warning then I'd report it to the council, and possibly see a solicitor with a view to suing the company. I don't normally agree with suing for 'accidents', however in this case the step (presuming there's no warning) sounds like an accident waiting to happen, and the restaurant were at least negligent in not warning it's there.
On a side note - maybe a wheelchair with a belt could have prevented the lady being thrown and some of her injuries? Possibly worth investing in for the future, pavements etc can be a nightmare for being uneven for chairs and a lap belt could help in future?

They have just been bought out recently by a big boutique style hotel chain .
When It was owned by the previous company there was always a portable ramp In place .

My friends son used to work there and he said part of his job was to put the ramp away at the end of the night . But he thinks that the new owners don't like the look of the ramp . It's an old listed building but very moden if that makes sense .

I went back up tonight to see if there was a portable ramp put In place as the mangeress had said to my husband that they had a portable ramp but they didn't always use it ffs .

But it was exactly the same - except that the double doors were open so you could see that there was a step . when It happened the doors were shut and I had to hold the door open while the wheelchair went through
I took a few sneaky photos of it just in case they put one In place

To be honest my relative has had a really bad year they have just got the all clear on cancer onset of dementia and pretty frail They look like they have done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson and then got run over by a truck .
It was supposed to be a nice treat for them and I feel awful

OMG what a truly awful thing to happen!

And what a disgusting attitude by the management

There are no signs at all and it's quite dimly lit
When you enter the building in order to get to the resturant bit you have to go through the bar and up the step which takes you on to the ramp
When you leave the resturant you have to go on to the ramp & down the step to get to the bar to get out
My uncle pushed the relative in and up the step onto the ramp but he had left by the time we left
When we were leaving it was my husband who was pushing the wheelchair so he wasn't aware of the step and wrongly assumed that because he was on the ramp there would.be a ramp the other side to get to the bar
If my relative had used a belt it could have been worse as the chair would have probably fallen on top of them

Small steps, and kerbs cannot be easily negotiated, and for Power Drive chairs they cannot be negotiated at all.

Interestingly, some historical buildings/ruins have been adapted to be entirely accessible. I am not suggesting that this has too be done everywhere btw, but ime it can and has been done.

@magpie - yes I realise there would have been that risk, if the chair went with enough force that the person pushing couldn't steady it and stop it from falling.
@msPavlichenko - I didn't say easily I said safely, no it's not easy but if the person pushing the chair is aware the step is there then it can be safely negotiated or avoided. The OP says there was no ramp and no sign - therefore no warning it was even there. And that was the point - no ramp where there should be and no sign to warn there's a step there so people are aware.

Have you taken a picture of the injuries? Might be a good idea to do that, and as well as complaining to the council, I do think it would be a good idea to sue, due to the way they've handled it.

I'm wheelchair bound and have been nearly tipped out due to bad paving. It's a frightening experience. I feel sorry that your relative went through this. I hope she feels better soon.

I never say this but honestly find a "no win, no fees" solicitor and file a claim. I bet they settle up before it gets to court. Stupid barstards.

So crpss i can't even swear properly.

I'd sue. Normally I wouldn't say this, but this is terrible, no reason to make a problem when there wasn't one before.

They have just been bought out recently by a big boutique style hotel chain. When It was owned by the previous company there was always a portable ramp In place

Might be an idea to ask the local fire safety officers to pop in. It's my experience that the first things that go out of the window when this happens are disabled access and fire precautions. The fire brigade can (and have) shut premises on the spot, if there is a serious risk to the public.