Social Attitudes
Improving access involves a range of issues. Much of the focus on what we are producing is about practical changes to the material provision of accessible toilets. But it is also about social attitudes. For example, social judgements made about people with disabilities or those whose disability is not recognised. There are also issues about discomfort and stigma around toilet needs that can be an important barrier to people being provided with the assistance they require.
Design
There is a clear need for more accessible toilets to be available across the UK. However, in addition there is also a need to improve the design of accessible toilets. What we have learned from the different people with disabilities and carers we have spoken to is that often accessible toilets are poorly designed, with not enough attention given to maximising their accessibility and to ensuring they are maintained.
Everyone Plays A Part
A range of actors and organisations can play a role in improving accessible toilet provision in the UK. This includes architects, designers, town planners, shop owners, community organisations. What we want to encourage is for any organisation that have toilets that are or could be made freely available to the general public, to think about ways they can ensure their accessibility is enhanced. The scope different organisations have to do this will vary and one thing that we think it is important to stress is that even small changes - such as better signage, provision of a shelf, changing attitudes - can make a difference.
Top Tips
If you are interested in doing something to improve toilet provision in your area or your organisation then you might find our top ‘Twenty Practical Steps To Improving Accessibility’ guide useful!
You can also listen to or download our the audio version below:
Community Toilet Scheme
One way to increase toilet accessibility is for more organisations with toilet facilities to become part of a Community Toilet Scheme. These schemes mean organisations of any size – public, community or commercial- agree to make their toilets available to the public without any obligation to purchase products or services. Opening facilities to the public can also mean that while people who use the facilities don’t have to spend money in the organisation, they may do so.
Local authorities sometimes run these schemes, but there is also a national website, Use Our Loos, that provides more information.
New Buildings - Planning and Design
A new building is an opportunity to think about accessible toilets from the start. The more they can be built into the original design the better. The British Toilet Association provide very useful information on specifications needed.
If possible it is great to have people with lived experience to advise on new builds and accessible toilets – sometimes builders don’t fully understand why the specifications are important. It is also important that design specifications are followed through in terms of the quality of the materials used and how the space is constructed.
Changing Places Toilets
A new building is also a real opportunity to provide a Changing Places Toilet for those with complex needs. 250,000 people in the UK with multiple or profound physical or learning disabilities. People with multiple disabilities or those with spinal injuries, muscular dystrophy or muscular sclerosis often need extra equipment and space in order to be able to use a toilet safely and comfortably. Changing Places toilets are able to meet these needs by providing a height adjustable adult size changing bench, a hoist system and sufficient space for an electric wheelchair user and two carers. They therefore make a huge difference to people with a range of disabilities and their carers, helping them to access their communities. Unfortunately, across the UK the availability of these toilets is mixed. If Changing Places toilets were included as standard in large new buildings and major refurbishments, access for people with the most severe disabilities and their carers would rapidly improve.
It is feasible that across the UK that it will become mandatory that new builds of a particular size and purpose include provision of Changing Places Toilets.
In the video below Eileen Robbie, a local campaigner we’ve worked with, provides powerful testimony as to the need for Changing Places Toilets:
Local Toilet Strategy
It is clear that Local Authorities across the UK have struggled during the current period of austerity and have had to implement cuts to many of their budgets including public toilet provision.
This makes building strategies around toilet provision all the more important. In Northumberland the Nowhere to Go team is working with the local council to produce such a strategy. It can be a chance to think creatively, pool resources and make links across the council e.g. to Health and Wellbeing Boards, as well as across communities involving people like Parish Councillors, voluntary organisations and commercial partners.
In Wales it is a requirement that local authorities produce such a strategy; we would like to see that change in other parts of the country.
