Carers forced to change people on dirty toilet floors - campaign calls for change 

19 July 2006

A new national campaign, Changing Places was today launched at the Tate Modern, to tackle the problem faced by over 40,000 people across the UK caused by the lack of fully accessible public toilets.

The Changing Places campaign calls for more ‘Changing Places’ toilets to be installed in all big public places, including city centres, shopping malls and arts venues. Without these facilities carers are often forced to change family members who have profound and multiple learning disabilities on a dirty toilet floor with little or no privacy. However the alternative is to limit outings to a couple of hours or to not go out at all.

Many people with profound and multiple learning disabilities need support to use the toilet, or require the use of a height adjustable changing bench where a carer can safely change their continence pad. They also need a hoisting system so they can be helped to transfer safely from their wheelchair to the toilet or changing bench. Changing Places toilets provide this essential equipment, as well as plenty of space for the disabled person and up to two carers.

There are almost no public Changing Places toilets in the UK. The Changing Places campaign aims to change this.

The campaign launch event was chaired by chief executive of Mencap Jo Williams, and attended by families including Craig and Jenny Whinnett from PAMIS. The event marked the launch of the new website www.changing-places.org, and the new symbol for Changing Places toilets was unveiled by artist and author Alison Lapper.

Alison, who is supporting the campaign, explains: "From my own experience I know how frustrating and humiliating it can be to come across toilets which just don't meet your needs. For someone with profound and multiple learning disabilities this is a common occurrence - resulting in people having to be changed on a dirty toilet floor or being forced to return home. The Changing Places campaign is so important because it is about more than just toilets; it's about people's quality of life."

The campaign is being run by the Changing Places consortium, which includes Mencap, PAMIS, Nottingham City Council, Dumfries and Galloway Council, the Department of Health Valuing People Support Team and the Scottish Executive Same as You Team.