Over 250,000 people across the UK cannot use standard accessible toilets. This includes some people with acquired brain injury, as well as people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and other conditions. To use the toilet in safety and comfort, many people need to be able to access a Changing Place, which has more space and the right equipment, including a height adjustable changing bench and a hoist.
Dr Clare Mills, Headway’s Public Affairs Manager, said, “The Changing Places campaign has had some real successes with new toilets across the country and there are now over 1,100 fully accessible toilets across the UK. But as the campaign says, there’s still so much more to do.
“We welcome the announcement from the Government that £2 million will be used to ensure every motorway service station has a Changing Places toilet under the Inclusive Transport Strategy. According to the Changing Places campaign, there are currently just 18 registered Changing Places toilets across the UK, 15 of which are in England, across a network of over 100 service stations.
"This is a real barrier to travel and change can’t come soon enough.”
Although the improvements to the motorway facilities are welcome, there is also a need for substantial investment in rail facilities and at hospitals. Out of more than 2,500 train stations in the UK, just 12 have a registered Changing Places toilet, and only 50 hospitals in the UK have a Changing Places toilet.
More information
- Find out more on the Changing Places website
- You can read about the Government’s Inclusive Transport Strategy on gov.uk
