"Fixed seating is a trip hazard"

At the sick kids in Edinburgh, on level one of the outpatient department, there are seats that are fixed to the ground. They have metal frames which are slanted so that they are wider at the bottom then at the top. In my view, they are a major trip hazard.

My husband nearly tripped over one of the legs of a bench while holding my newborn son. This is extremely dangerous. Clearly the senior leadership of the hospital knows about the issue, because they have put high visibility tape on all of the legs. However, the seating is bolted to the ground, and still has not been removed. The fact that high visibility tape has been added illustrates that leadership knows and acknowledges that there is a higher risk issue, but they are still not doing anything about it.

We were told that the seats couldn’t be removed yet because leadership have not identified an alternative solution. When I asked about why some of the seating from downstairs has not been moved up in its place, the staff said that this was apparently because children could climb onto it and jump over the glass walls. 

It would be better for it to be removed and to leave people standing, then to continue having dangerous seating bolted to the ground.

Rather than overthinking the problem, just remove the seats.