"More understanding of IBS needed"

I attend quite a few hospitals and am disabled as well as having the IBS.

I do however find that disabled toilets tend to be a bit more accessible in relation to IBS and its symptoms. The toilets are usually stocked better with plenty of loo roll and have good handwashing facilities. Also you do not have 5 people standing outside the door in a queue when you can't get off the loo.

I also have care assistants that wait for me but the disabled toilets are more private and more soundproof. I have had IBS since being a teenager and have found the symptoms very embarrassing and it is only at the ripe old age of 44 that I have the confidence to be a bit more blase about the whole affair.

My main gripe about hospitals though is the lack of understanding in A and E departments where you are treated for what your admitted for - but when you say you have IBS and need the toilet urgently they can be very slack. My IBs has also been affecting the frequency I need to urinate too and I have found myself in very compromising positions in A and E because of ignorance.

I have to take someone with me to help me find the toilets and frequently use a wheelchair because I can't walk far. Even so I find there are not enough toilet facilities and especially for disabled. I also think that they should be soundproofed for poor IBS sufferers who can find themselves in embarrassing distress from the symptoms.