By Alan Rodgers
PUBLIC toilets in Omagh should be upgraded in line with new standards aimed at meeting the needs of local people with severe disabilities and their carers, a nurse working in this area has urged.
The charity Mencap, which has a base in Omagh, is among the groups spearheading the Changing Places campaign to raise awareness of the issue. Now their efforts are being championed by a local woman Catherine Donnelly, specialist in Learning Disability Nursing.
"It's a disgrace that our local Council doesn't provide public toilets that meet the needs of local people or their carers with severe disabilities," she said.
"We hear about social inclusion, yet the absence of these facilities is actually excluding those with problems such as these. Without them, carers are often forced to change their disabled loved-ones on dirty toilet floors.
"There have been sustained efforts to integrate those with severe disabilities into the community. But these are being undermined because the absence of proper facilities means that trips to large towns have to be curtained.
"Better facilities would encourage those with severe disabilities to go out and enjoy many of the same activities as everyone else. This could be a day out shopping or visiting within the town," she added.
The Changing Places Campaign wants to see the provision of toilets with a range of enhanced facilities. These include a hoist, changing bench and increased space than is currently the case.
Efforts in this regard have been ongoing for several years and received a significant boost earlier this year with the introduction of a British Standard covering provision for those with disabilities.
The document includes recommendations that Changing Places toilets should be installed in larger buildings and complexes, including sport and leisure facilities, cultural centres, key buildings within town centres and educational and health facilities.
"People with disabilities have a right to be socially included. Carers have enough to contend with and we shouldn't make their lives harder by denying them the right to basic public facilities," she added.
"That right isn't being protected because of that and hopefully people within the community will realise that people with learning disabilities should have the facilities needed to help them live life to the full.
A spokesperson for Omagh District Council said that a representative of its Building Control Department had attended a seminar on 'Changing Places, Changing Lives' recently.
But they said that the guidance outlined in the new British Standard was not yet a requirement of the Building Regulations, adding that there were currently only two 'Changing Places' toilets in Northern Ireland.
