Helping to make East Surrey Hospital more accessible

Helping to make East Surrey Hospital more accessible

East Surrey Hospital reached out to the community to find people with disabilities who would like to help improve the hospital and make it more accessible to everyone.

Shola, Sinead, Keith and Matthew from Longmead visited East Surrey Hospital, to help with the accessibility audit. They met with the Hospital Patient Experience Lead and an Occupational Therapist, to find out what worked for them and what was difficult when they visited the hospital. They were also accompanied by hospital staff who had a range of disabilities. Staff made sure the visiting auditors felt valued and important and the group were provided with lunch at the hospital.

The auditors feedback

One person from Longmead identified there was no braille on the lift button, or item-specific picture signage on the fridge in the canteen. They also felt that the lighting was not quite right in some places and that the flushes on the toilets in one of the newer areas were not easy to find or use.

East Surrey Hospital said “Shola, Sinead, Keith and Matthew were very engaged and enthusiastic. They gave us excellent input into finding things that we need to change and seeing things we had not picked up and this will be invaluable.”

 

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