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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think that any one who designs a town, building, theme park or attraction should have to spend the day navigating it in a wheelchair?

133 replies

Flufferblub · 26/10/2023 07:31

Needed a wheelchair on some days since my early 30s, and the experience has been eye opening. Some spaces seem well designed such as airports, but others it feels like disabled people are a complete after thought. Even in new places that have just been built in the past few years. You can understand in historic towns and places, but if some where has been designed and built in the 21st century, you'd think that they'd put a button to open the disabled toilet door.

The people who design and run these places need to spend a day getting around in a wheelchair. Design it with wheelchairs in mind first, and everyone else will be alright. Who doesn't like a ramp and automatic doors any way?

OP posts:
Lonejohny · 27/10/2023 16:11

Totally agree

SerendipityJane · 27/10/2023 16:21

longtompot · 27/10/2023 16:05

I just remembered my dds mentioned that cash machines and self service tills aren't set up very well for wheelchair users. You can't get close enough to them to hide when you are putting in pins

Gosh ! You mean disabled people have money ?

We'll soon put a stop to that. No money = no problems accessing a cashpoint.

Woollyjumpersandtomatosoupweather · 27/10/2023 16:26

Wheelchair user Dfriend had a 7 day hospital stay recently which was gross. No mobile hoists or willing staff to help her get into the 1 working accessible shower room, and the nearest wheelchair accessible loo was absolutely filthy, and the loo roll holder attached on the other side of the room from the toilet. You needed 6 foot arms to reach the loo roll! She complained to PALS but heard nothing back.

Whomever designs hospitals, which surely must receive a lot of wheelchair users, let alone new buildings, should employ a wheelchair user to check that basic washing and toileting facities are suitable for everyone.

Jelllytot · 27/10/2023 16:30

SerendipityJane · 27/10/2023 15:47

You only need to be on MN for a few days to realise how much of a nuisance wheelchair users are. Especially when they take up the pram spaces on buses.

Wtf?

Sorry if I've misinterpreted what you've said but I really don't think that's funny

jannier · 27/10/2023 16:43

My sister is in hospital at the moment she can't get into the disabled toilet and for hygiene reasons been told she can't have a commode by her bed. Downstairs in the very large hospital there are two disabled toilets both with baby change and it takes a good 10 minutes to walk between them....one doesn't have a working drop down frame, neither is big enough for a disabled scooter and one is always being used by people from the A&E department. There are 4 sets of normal toilets

SerendipityJane · 27/10/2023 16:47

Jelllytot · 27/10/2023 16:30

Wtf?

Sorry if I've misinterpreted what you've said but I really don't think that's funny

I know. It's much funnier seeing wheelchair user left at a bus stop because they can't get into a bus with the pram bays full.

Jelllytot · 27/10/2023 16:48

SerendipityJane · 27/10/2023 16:47

I know. It's much funnier seeing wheelchair user left at a bus stop because they can't get into a bus with the pram bays full.

I completely disagree with what you're saying.

WiddlinDiddlin · 27/10/2023 16:53

Jelllytot - I think SerendipityJane was being sarcastic there.. not actually stating they think wheelchair users are a nuisance!

Hospitals are one of the least accessible places going - waiting rooms are set out for chairs, people who walk. Wheelchair users will often have to wait in the corridor and I have been forgotten on a number of occasions, my name being called ou in teh room or on a screen I can't see and no one has remembered im in the corridor waiting!

There is little room around beds for wheelchairs meaning your chair (if you've managed to bring it in with you, and you can't if you're ambulanced in you will need someone to fetch it for you!) will be put out of your reach.

Disabled accessible toilets are often broken, repurposed, not up to standard etc.

Parking is a fucking nightmare, lifts too small or slow and rammed with people ( a friend often attends a v large hospital over multiple floors in a northern city, she can miss appointments waiting on lifts as they're so busy and so slow) who seem to think the wheelchair user should defer to foot traffic always.

It's very difficult to report accessibility issues to anyone (who to? where?) and even if you do, bugger all gets done and businesses/architects/planners KNOW this. As long as a vague nod towards accessibility is done, the rest can be fudged - so yay they put in an accessible toilet iwth a wheelchair logo on the door.

The fact it is rammed full of huge bins and baby change tables, isn't big enough to get a power chair in and turn it around to exit (try reversing out, omg!) is all by the by 'they've done their best'.

My worst accessiblity story was a burger place in Birmingham. Its split over two levels as its on a hill, so two entrances, stairs between them.

There is seating on both levels - i went in the top, told no, go down the hill to the bottom we're not serving on this floor right now.

Go down the bottom and the ramp/stairs combo is not guard railed, i have to turn with a steep drop in front of me and to my side (behind me when ive turned) to go through double doors... Only the staff don't have the key for the second half of the door! So I can't get in. So can they open up the upper floor? No. Sorry.

Then they asked if I could leave the wheelchair outside?!

What, leave 2.5K of custom chair just... sat on a busy street? Even if I could have walked to a table, no fucking way!

Then we had to make it all the way back up the steep hill to get back to the train (which is why we went in the top door in the first place, far too steep a hill for a manual chair user!) Fortunately a big chap offered to help give me a shove or id still be there now I think!

Zero fucks given by them whatsoever. I did complain in writing, I was promised a voucher. It never arrived.

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