Haringey has asked us: If you had 15K, which public building in Haringey would you spend it on, and what would you do to it to make the building more accessible for your child?
- By The Difficult Parent
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- 03 Feb, 2019
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Our answer is Loos Loos Loos ... ... and where do you go if you have very complex toileting needs (just don't think of Waterfalls!)
What we would like to see is a number of “Changing Places” to meet the toileting needs of people with complex and challenging toileting needs. This is because universal services need to be universally accessible. Whilst the need for and careful design of disabled parking is often considered in the design of services, complex toileting needs are not.
People with very complex and multiple physical and learning disabilities cannot access standard accessible toilets. They
require hoists and changing beds and one or two carers to help facilitate their personal care needs whilst maintaining their dignity and well wellbeing. The charity Changing
Places campaign for appropriate toilets in city centres, shopping centres, leisure facilities, libraries, sports stadia, and elsewhere to meet the needs of an estimated 250,000 people across the UK with complex personal care needs. That
is equivalent to the population of Haringey being denied access to leisure facilities and sports stadia or restaurants and pubs or shops and supermarkets because there is no place appropriate to meet their personal care needs.
There are currently two toilets in Haringey that reach the Changing Places standard – one at the Winkfield Centre and another at the Mossy Well Pub, Muswell Hill. Which means that, with the exception of these two places and Tottenham Green Leisure Centre, everywhere else a person with a very severe disability is either being changed on the floor amongst dribbled urine and everything else, or they do not go out to café or restaurants or the park or sports clubs. Often it is not just the person with the severe disability that becomes isolated it’s the whole family, the carer and they rest of the family group.
The disabled toilet facilities in Haringey should conform with the Changing Places standard.
The 15K is an opportunity for greater social inclusion of people with severe and complex disabilities and their families, at relatively. The charity Changing Places estimated equipment costs for a Changing Places toilet can vary but are in the region of between £12,000 - £15,000 including VAT.
http://changing-places.org/install_a_toilet/equipment/costs.aspx
http://www.changing-places.org/install_a_toilet/design/changing_places_standards.aspx
