Does crap website design make joining Tottenham Green Pools discriminatory on the basis of age?

  • By The Difficult Parent
  • 23 Jan, 2022

Health Inequalities: Scrolling back one month at a time to the 1970's to get to my date of birth in order to register and join 'Fusion' at Tottenham Green proved impractical, so I went in person, and faced more age related discrimination - but is is not just us and the website is not the only issue: there is an online petition to remove the contract from 'Fusion' because of poor customer service, poor cleanliness, poor condition of the facilities - and the website.

SIGN THE PETITION

Fusion run Tottenham Green Leisure Centre to a substandard level and take no responsibility, despite repeated calls, to run it in a better way.

The pool area in particular is an issue - the pool is regularly cold, swimming lessons are cancelled, the pool area is dirty, the changing rooms look like they’ve not been cleaned for weeks - dirty plasters, mud and so on.

Despite numerous complaints over the last couple of years, there has been no change, and there seems to be little action from Haringey Council to try and solve the issue.

We call for a way to be found to terminate the contract and find a new supplier, so that we can have better services in Tottenham. It seems absurd that such a valuable resource is failing its users and yet they continue to hold the contract to do so.

Recently, there was a chemical leak at the centre - a serious error which left four people in hospital, in what seems to be a catalogue of errors.

Many local people no longer use the Leisure Centre and travel further afield to go swimming. This would seem to be a massive own goal for both the Centre and the area.

Petition comments from the last 2 months

  • The centre is badly run and it is a much needed resource for the local people
  • I don’t think Fusion provide a safe and sanitary service. They are not good value for money for residents and the leisure centres are underused due to the quality issues
  • I’m signing this because Fusion have failed to run this the centre well for years
  • The pool is often not warm enough for children, there are no family swims in the week, and it’s become incredibly expensive. £8 for an adult swim compared to £4/5 in other leisure centres in much wealthier areas. 
  • It is so poorly run despite much customer feedback, it is unclean and a health and safety concern 
  • We should not have to travel elsewhere to take our son swimming 
  • So badly run, no accountability, never able to speak to anyone about concerns. Always grimy in the evening, pool and showers often too cold, I could go on! Such a shame!! 
  • It’s impossible to use : book on line or in person! The website is not up to date. 
  • Fusion is appalling. We should be able to have decent leisure centres in Tottenham. 
  • I live a 10 minute walk from the centre. The pool should be a great resource for my kids, but we regularly have to cancel plans to go because the pool is closed due to some issue caused by mismanagement. The changing rooms are almost always filthy. This is not how it should be run. 
  • I want to use the pool but it not open/ very cold 
  • It’s a shambles, is dirty and no-one uses it because of that 
  • I'm signing because the swimming pool is always dirty. When we went recently , there was an unpleasant smell of urine and the overflowing bin. It's disgraceful. 
  • The facilities are dirty, its badly run, the pool is hardly ever open for families. It's such a waste for what could be a much better resource for local residents 
  • The residents of Tottenham deserve a decent leisure centre, like every other part of inner city London 
  • This is a great facility that's managed poorly, and as a result is under utilised. My children do swim their every week, but the water is freezing and the showers rarely work. Teachers often don't show up to their lessons. We use the facility, but reluctantly, and would use it much more if it was managed effectively.
  • It’s a disgrace that this fantastic resource for our community is unusable and it appears the commissioners (council) do nothing about it!
  • The changing rooms are filthy, the pool is cold, the management are incompetent and Tottenham deserves better.
  • The people of Tottenham deserve a sports centre that is fit for purpose. Fusion haven’t responded to calls to do better, so someone else should be given the chance to run it properly.
  • I have avoided TG for years for many reasons, including a manager aggressively entering the room we were changing in & shouting at me
  • The service is disorganised, rude and completely lately inefficient. It is letting people down and it is not fair.
  • Because this facility is filthy and a health hazard

My experience: 70 clicks just seemed like a waste of time

I have tried to join the Tottenham Green Pool using the Fusion website via my phone.

I had difficulties getting to my date of birth on the Fusion website as needed to go through nearly 70 screens, scrolling back one month at a time to get to the 1970s.

In the end it just seemed too impracticable, so I went in person to Tottenham Green Pool, and 8 minutes walk from my house.

The was no one at reception desk for 2 minutes and so a cleaner went to get a member of reception staff.

It was now about 3:45pm and I explained why I needed to be registered by a member of staff and the difficulties I had with the website, the member of staff was quite put out said there are only 10 minutes left before closing, and said so.

I pointed out the correct time and that I would not be there if the website had worked.

"That's why we help older people who have difficulties with technology..."

"There are 16 minutes to closing AND I had to come in person because the website doesn't work".

I was then told that all they could do was mention it to the manager but "This is why we help older people who have difficulty with technology in person... .".

Repeatedly told all I can do is mention to my manager as I tried to examine that this was a barrier for older people (not a barrier was the reply!).

After the 3rd time of being fobbed off, I walked away in disgust, only for the member of reception staff to shout at me that I was rude.

Did you just call me rude?

I asked to speak to manager.

Manager came out and stood in an aggressive power stance with hands in pockets and head back, chin forward while the member of reception staff explained why I was rude(!).

I think they thought they were in a bad 1970's cop show. Both were bad cop.

I start to film this on my phone as I am very unhappy with all these interactions. Manager said he would report the complaint to his manager (I got the impression he was not happy with the filming).

Stating that older people have difficulties with tech is age discrimination - especially when your tech is CRAP

I am do not have difficulties using technology 'as an older person'.

I am 51!

And I am not going to justify my tech-savviness or otherwise when the 'Fusion' website design is crap.

The Fusion website is a barrier for older people to join the local gym and benefit from the use of the gym because of how it is designed.

I am 51 - don't blame my age - it's your crap website design

Health Inequalities: I found the staff disengaged and disinterested to the point of discrimination, on the basis of age.

Inequitable access to the health benefits of accessing good quality health facilities can lead to inequitable outcomes. 

Getting active is one of the top 10 tips for a Health Body as identified by the NHS https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/

Other discriminatory features of the Tottenham Green Pool include

1. Changing places standard toilet is needed: Poor quality of the changing facilities for people with complex and changing toileting needs.
2. Increase the number of disabled parking spaces. And monitor regularly for misuse.
3. Improve the access to the pool for disabled people: The current access for people with complex needs prohibits use of the pools for people with the most complex conditions who might require hoist, suitable changing beds and a bed to access the pool.
4. No clear reporting system in place to raise concerns of this nature relating to discrimination other than the 'contact us' forms on the website.
5. No clear structure
as to discriminatory issues are internally reported and considered by the senior managers and trustees of Tottenham Green pool, other then through the 'complaints' system.
6. No clarity about who is responsible and accountable for ensuring that systems are not discriminatory and that issues raised are addressed, other then through the 'complaints' system.

And a browse through online reviews on Google for Tottenham Green Pool and a look at the reasons why people signed the petition show that this is by no means an isolated occurrence with 2 people today complaining about customer service - they were only open 6 hours!!!

Sign the petition
https://www.change.org/p/haringey-council-terminate-fusion-s-contract-to-run-tottenham-green-leisure...

Google reviews of the centre in the past month

  • We have booked the badminton court here multiple times and experience very poor service from the receptionist side. She is always rude to us and experienced racist treatment against us multiple times by their action and behaviour. (Same day as my visit).
  • Good variety of classes but the really need to get a grip with maintenance and cleaning.
  • Majority of the times are users of the facilities that can not be bothered to put their paper in the bins
  • The facilities are horrendous. Dirty floor , dirty toilets , broken lockers. Avoid this place, it's discusting.
  • Had a terrible time trying to get money back when I was charged double for swimming lessons. They decided to set 2 direct debits on my account and take money twice 3 months in a row! After I cancelled one of the direct debits, they've tried to set it up again! It's now been over a month since I first reported it, seems that my first complaint was lost, general manager not interested anymore in helping, I've sent email to the complaint
  • department, no reply from them either.
  • Constant queques at the reception, seems the receptionist is dealing with 2-3 people at the same time trying to speed things up and probably that's why my first complaint was lost somewhere.
  • Worst customer service desk ever. Rude staff!!
  • I have been attending the swimming pool for 6 months and at first I thought it was quite good. Fair membership price, good pool, convenient location for where I live. However in the past 6 months the showers have broken, only running cold water for months, and now the main pool has broken and is closed due to temperature issues. Without being able to use the pool for several weeks I now ask myself why I pay a membership for something I can't use.
  • It would be lovely if it was little cleaner.. the floating swimming equipment mouldy all around.. please get new ones.. this look so disgusting.. also the water extremely cold for children. Our child was shaking from the cold
  • Very bad staff unhelpful!
  • Family swimming pool are horribly dirty, they teaching kids to swimm in so dirty water I'm so disappointed and upset..... And every week same situation.... All others swimming pools looks clean but they don't care about family swimming pool at all...
  • Staff are nice but the whole place needs a clean it's disgusting
For the sake of balance there are seven (suspicious) 5 star reviews in the last month but they are suspiciously lacking in detail as to why 5 stars have been given, they are all clumped one after the other and are just the polar opposite of the overall trend.

Why this matters at a glance: the state of Haringey (Papers for cabinet December 2021)

One in 5 adults in Haringey have high blood pressure and a third of our residents are not getting enough physical exercise

Nearly 2 in 3 adults in Haringey are overweight or obese

Source: papers sent to Haringey Cabinet in December 2021: 
https://www.haringey.gov.uk/sites/haringeygovuk/files/state_of_the_borough_final_master_version.pdf
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