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Unaccessible building for wheelchair users

Posted By Jests34

"Unaccessible building for wheelchair users"

About: CAMHS / Antrim & Ballymena CAMHS

(as a parent/guardian),

Today we attended an appointment in Slemish Community Services Centre for a QB test for my daughter .

I had to bring her brother along as I did not have childcare and he is in a wheelchair and it was a total nightmare to negotiate the building to get my daughter to the room we had to go to. The poor lady had to try and hold doors and access others to allow access the corridors are not wide enough with sharp turns which make it impossible to get Round. Total disgrace as this is a hospital building 

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Responses

Response from Oisin Martin, Assistant Director, Children and Young People, Women's Children and Family Services, Northern Trust nearly 2 years ago
We are preparing to make a change
Oisin Martin
Assistant Director, Children and Young People, Women's Children and Family Services,
Northern Trust

Submitted on 27/07/2023 at 14:14
Published on Care Opinion at 14:48

As a point of departure, I would wish to offer an apology for the delay in responding to your recent post on Care Opinion. I have taken some time to make enquiries as to the facilities and lay out of our premises in Slemish Community Services Centre in Ballymena as I was keen to respond to your concerns from an informed perspective.

I take account of the frustration and dissatisfaction set out in your post and, having reviewed the lay out of the site can well imagine that there would be distinct challenges for parents and service users in accessing the BAS assessment suite using a wheelchair. I sincerely apologise that this has been your experience and have taken steps to request that alternative ground floor accommodation, configured with due regard to disability access requirements be sought for this service.

As an interim measure, I have also reviewed the documentation sent out to parents and guardians by the Behaviour Assessment Service in advance of clinical appointments. Whilst an invitation is set out to parents and carers to alert the service to any individual needs arising within the context of disability, hearing and visual impairment and interpreting requirements, this falls short of alerting parents and service users as to the challenges that might be encountered in accessing the assessment suite whilst using a wheelchair. I have asked for the standard invitation letter to be amended accordingly and accept that this amounts to an interim measure pending the location of more suitable accommodation.

I am grateful to you for sharing your experience through Care Opinion, had you not done so I would have remained unaware of this being an issue and would have encountered no prompt to explore and to seek to improve access for children and young people and carers accessing our service.

On a concluding note, I am very sorry that our facility fell short of both expectations and requirements and would be happy to discuss this in person should this be of assistance.

Thank you

Dr Oisin Martin

Assistant Director, (Interim)

Child Health Development and Emotional Wellbeing, NHSCT

Tel 02894424600

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