PEOPLE with disabilities in Bradford will benefit from an improved, state-of-the art toilet facility at St Luke's Hospital.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has received £17,000 of new funding to build the specially adapted Changing Place space.

This will have additional equipment for people who are unable to use the toilet independently, including adult-sized changing benches and hoists.

The new toilet at the hospital builds on the positive feedback the Trust has received about the one which opened at the Bradford Royal Infirmary in 2018.

They are invaluable for many disabled people, who are unable to use standard accessible toilets as they need more space for mobility and assistance.

This includes people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, as well people with other physical disabilities such as spinal injuries, muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis who often need extra equipment and space to allow them to use the toilets safely and comfortably.

To access the Changing Place toilet, users will need a RADAR key. RADAR Keys are made available to people with disabilities from the local Council.

However, if a person does not have a RADAR key and is in need of the Changing Places toilets, keys will be available at BRI Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm from the Physiotherapy Reception which is next to the toilet, and out of these times from the Main Reception desk, while similar arrangements will be arranged for St Luke’s Hospital.

The ‘Changing Places’ Consortium launched its campaign in 2006 on behalf of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, as well as older people.