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State of the art hospital? Not in...

Story from nhs.uk

"State of the art hospital? Not in..."

About: Royal Derby Hospital

What I liked

The physio staff.

What could be improved

Hydrotherapy changing rooms at the Royal Derby - these are really a disgrace for a new hospital. There is one private changing room and the rest is communal. Even as communal there isn't enough room for everyone, ie, bench space to put your bag on while you dress/undress. On ladies only days the room is insufficient - would it be possible to utilize the empty mens changing rooms on these days?

There are many people using the changing rooms, some with recent operations, scars, shapes sizes, religions, ideas of modesty. There are not even clothes shops which would expect their customers to change communally never mind totoally undress. It isn't practical for people of limited mobility to be squashed in together, balancing on one foot while dressing from the pool, trying to hold towels for decency.

Who on earth thought these facilities were adequate or suitable in the 21st century? It is equivilent to wards without curtains. I wouldn't be surprised if they breached human rights for decency and breathing space!

Why not utilize the waiting area the otherside of the womens changing rooms, an empty space with 2 chairs in it?

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Responses

Response from Royal Derby Hospital 12 years ago
Royal Derby Hospital

Submitted on 16/11/2011 at 13:00
Published on nhs.uk on 17/11/2011 at 04:01

Thank you for your comments,

The hydrotherapy changing rooms were built about 20 years ago when Derby had two hydro pools and the volume of patients was much less. The recent hospital build at RDH only allowed for refurbishment of the pool rather than further build. With limited space available during the original build phase, a mostly open plan approach to the changing area was adopted. To have multiple changing cubicles that are big enough to be accessed by wheelchair demands a lot of space.

We do have one curtained area in each changing room but also there are several curtained areas next to the pool side which can be accessed by request (please just mention to a member of the pool staff).

We do try to meet the privacy and dignity requirements of our patients and I hope that this additional information will be useful. If you have any concerns please speak a member of staff at the time you attend who will do there best to make your experience of our hydrotherapy pool as comfortable as possible.

If you would like to discuss this further please contact our PALS team, confidentially, on freephone 0800 7837691.

J.Roberts, Communications

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