Disabled loos

[Libra7]

Just feel like having a rant about the provision of disabled loos in lots of restaurants.!. Usually Service Stations are OK especially if you have your own alum key but other eating places often have no idea what a disabled person has to overcome to access the loo. Often to gain access to the cloakroom area there are swing doors which open the wrong way. I have twice been knocked over when a swing door has closed on me (one time giving me a broken arm). It would be impossible in a wheel chair to negotiate the doors without help.

Today we have had to cancel a precooked family lunch because the disabled toilet was ‘out of order’. Friends have reported that their experiences have included the disabled toilet being used as a storage room. On one occasion it was deemed acceptable for a disabled person to cross over an open aired courtyard to use a loo in one of their residential rooms.

Before we book any meal out my husband or son have to do a ‘recky’ to ensure the loo situation is OK including whether there are steps with no hand rail.

[Athywhite]

My local pub restaurant was great for a while and one Saturday we had eaten and had a couple of drinks when I wanted to use the loo, it was out of order, I asked a man behind the bar what my options were, he said "go to the one up stairs (3 flights of stairs) or go to the pub next door", absolutely no customer service whatsoever. I won't be going there again

[Libra7 in reply to Athywhite]

What a horrible experience.. Doesn’t surprise me though!

[PatsyIpswich]

I quite agree.. often they double as baby changer with overflowing bins of smelly nappies, wet floors and not to mention, low handles and accessories for wheelchair users causing us with rolator to struggle. Patsy x

[Libra7 in reply to PatsyIpswich]

Such a lack understanding. The disability room in hotels always has the same problem.

[BlanketTime1 in reply to Libra7]

oh i hate the combo disabled/baby change!! that just hurts more people than helps.

[Guardsman68]

Hello Libra7 this seems to be an issue with a few places that my wife has wanted us to visit either for a meal or just a few hours out of the house. Accessible toilets are a nightmare or even an entrance to restaurant or pub are a challenging. My wife will call the venue in advance and ask what the facility has in relation to wheelchair access and they say they have ramps and disability toilets but when you get there you have trouble with doors and steps and ramps that aren’t wide enough and trying to get the keys off bar staff can be frustrating. So now my wife and daughter does the same and goes on a recky before hand.

We have found two pubs locally that are fantastic and very accommodating with us and couldn’t do enough to make us feel comfortable.

But I find the ignorance and lack of awareness towards people with disabilities that have so many obstacles each and every day to overcome just to try and live their lives is astonishing. I have been using a wheelchair now for 10 months and I have tried to remain calm and polite when I come across this ignorance but unfortunately I have never suffered fools and I have to educate the uneducated.

Keep living your life and keep trying.

NO SURRENDER

[Libra7 in reply to Guardsman68]

Pleased to hear you’ve at least found a couple of places that seem to know how to accommodate your needs. Frustrating that we often feel like second class citizens.

[Crisfromshipdham]

Cousins from London visited Norfolk last week. As usual a pub was booked for lunch. Itelephoned to ask if it was wheelchair accessible. No problem they said. I went to the 'accesible' andthere was no way I couls get in. Fortunatly my sister was on hand to assist me. As for the disabled toilets at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital - No toilet paper . nopaper towels, hand dryer out of order and floor running with water. UGH !!!

[Libra7 in reply to Crisfromshipdham]

Your experience is so disappointing. The access to the disabled loo is just as important as the actual loo. It shows such a lack of thought.

The condition of the loo in the hospital is particularly unacceptable.

[BlanketTime1]

that is ridiculous. i think it stems from laziness and other times it's a sort of unconscious denial of the possibility of disability. for those who own a business they need to take care of their facilities. and a store room? horrible. i'm sorry you experienced this. for me it's usually queuing for ages only to find an able-bodied person apologising as they "only needed a wee.' yeah? well so did i but not only can i only fit in certain places, i have urinary incontinence from a spinal lesion, so thanks.🤬

[Libra7 in reply to BlanketTime1]

So many bad experiences! If only people would just for a few minutes put themselves in our position. I once had to wait while a baby was changed, dad came out with baby and mum stayed presumably to use the loo! When she finally came out she seemed quite surprised to see me waiting there.