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Multiple accessible toilets, specifically designed for people with stoma bags, have been installed in both Royal Preston Hospital, Fulwood and Chorley and South Ribble Hospital, Chorley.
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals introduced 27 toilets from a £7,558 donation by Rosemere Cancer Foundation and guidance from Colostomy UK.
The changes have been made to aid those with a stoma, a small opening in the abdomen to allow waste to leave the body.
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The head of the project, Alison McCrudden advocated for the installation of the toilets.
She said these small changes will make a “big difference for both the public and patients” of the hospitals.
The newly installed toilets over both sites will provide hooks to hang personal belongings, shelves to provide a sanitary surface, a full-length mirror to make changing stoma bags easier and a sanitary bin for the disposal of used stoma bags.
It will also contain a signage for the door with the reminder “not all disabilities are visible.”
Calum Reid, who works for Macmillan and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Research Team said that adjusting to a daily life with a stoma following the treatment of bowel cancer, “proved to be challenging.”
He mentioned that the most challenging aspect included the use of public accessible toilets lacking the facilities required to change his stoma bag.
He said: “I often felt anxious whilst using facilities due to the possibility of being challenged or criticised for using accessible toilets.”
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