The Big Space Cancer Appeal-
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About our charity and what we stand for
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A More Accessible Future: New Accessibility Guides will transform hospital experiences
Thanks to your generosity, a new charity funded project is helping to make hospital visits more accessible for disabled people, carers and visitors.
In the UK, there are over 16.8 million disabled people and 5.4 million carers. Within our Trust’s catchment, there is approximately 170,000 individuals who are likely to be impacted by disability and issues relating to accessibility.
Thanks to your donations, a new partnership with AccesAble has been funded to create ‘Detailed Access Guides’ to empower disabled patients, carers and visitors to our hospitals. AccessAble is a disabled-led organisation with over 25 years of experience providing accessibility information. Through their extensive engagement with disabled people and people with mental health conditions, they understand the types of information that individuals need to feel confident about visiting new places, particularly healthcare settings.
These Access Guides will offer accurate, consistent and practical information around our buildings and services. This includes data on entrances, toilets, signage, lifts, sensory considerations and more - removing the guesswork that can cause stress and anxiety - and empowering people by clearly setting out what they can expect when they arrive at our hospitals.
The Detailed Access Guides describe each patient or visitor journey step by step; from arriving on site and parking, to navigating through entrances, lifts, stairs, and corridors, and reaching specific departments, consultation rooms, wards, and toilet facilities. They include extensive written detail, relevant measurements and high-quality photographs, including 360-degree images of accessible toilets and changing places facilities. They cover a wide range of access needs, including physical, sensory, cognitive, and mental health requirements. They consider factors such as quiet spaces, wayfinding, signage, lighting and seating, which can be particularly important for people with anxiety, autism, dementia or sensory processing differences.
“With these new Access Guides, patients and staff will be able to focus on their appointments, treatments or work, rather than having to navigate unexpected barriers. We hope to see better access to services, improved patient experiences and a greater level of appointments being attended.”
Rebecca Fell, Patient and Carer Experience Improvement Manager
Charlie Homer, Head of Income Generation at the Charity, said “One of our pillars at the Charity is inclusivity, and we hope this new initiative will take us from reactive to proactive inclusion. These Detailed Guides will provide a practical tool that supports everyday accessibility, whilst also delivering insight that helps us move forward strategically. A key objective of this project is to ensure that staff and volunteers feel confident in supporting individuals, and that everyone accessing our sites feels welcomed, respected and understood.
Thank you to all of our incredible supporters whose donations have helped make this project a reality. We look forward to sharing more updates as the initiative progresses.
Making hospital life better
