Publish date: 2 February 2023
Mersey Care has joined more than 90 NHS Trusts to partner with AccessAble; the UK’s leading provider of detailed disabled access information. Since last year, our estates and accessibility leads have been working with the organisation to create detailed access guides to facilities for all our patient-facing community and mental health sites and services. This week all their reports are live on the Trust’s public website.
The guides are clear factual documents containing figures and photographs to help patients, visitors and staff plan their journeys to and around our sites, covering everything from parking facilities and hearing loops, to walking distances and accessible toilets.
As an independent organisation, AccessAble have assessed scores of local organisations, shops and facilities, as well as tens of thousands nationally. This partnership is based on an understanding that everyone’s accessibility needs are different, which is why having detailed, accurate information is so important. All of the details the user sees in the guide have been checked in person, on site, by trained surveyors. As well as being available on AccessAble’s website, every location page of our website now has an up to date link for anyone to check the site they may need to visit.
Elaine Darbyshire, Mersey Care’s Executive Director of Estates, welcomes the new service and thanked colleagues involved. She says: “This partnership gives an independent, informed assessment of our sites, which anyone using our services can view before visiting. We are pledged to continue improving accessibility and the work done here shows that we’re committed to being transparent about people’s needs at our locations and how people experience accessing them.” Project leads Alison Paul and Cara Donnelli-Hunn will host the 31 March event at Indigo to celebrate and further raise awareness of access issues, with Amanda Oates as guest speaker.
As well as our website, the public can see us alongside a range of local services on the organisation’s site. Details are also available via the AccessAble App which is free to download from the App Store and Google Play, giving the people immediate accessibility information at their fingertips during visits to Trust services.
