Healthwatch Manchester have completed a combined review of wheelchair access across the three major hospital sites in Manchester – Manchester Royal Infirmary, North Manchester General Hospital and Wythenshawe Hospital.
Healthwatch Manchester’s Enter and View work has been an ongoing project since the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, in alignment with their powers of Enter and View they conducted a review of wheelchair access across Manchester’s three major hospitals.
They made three unannounced visits to the hospital sites to conduct Enter and View reviews. Healthwatch Manchester visited MRI in November 2022, NMGH in April 2023 and WH in December 2023
Each visit consisted of a team of HWM representatives who carried out the following procedure as part of the review:
- Location of wheelchairs in the hospital
- Location of information on how to use wheelchairs provided
- Review of ease of movement within the hospital for the wheelchair user and handler
- Review of access to wheelchairs on request
When comparing the results from each visit, they were able to conclude that:
- All three major hospital sites in Manchester are wheelchair accessible.
- However, the number of wheelchairs available for people with physical and sensory disabilities is significantly limited across all three major hospital sites.
- Signage explaining how to use a wheelchair was lacking across the majority of the hospital sites reviewed.
They therefore recommended that:
- The University of Manchester NHS Foundation Trust should increase the number of wheelchairs available across all three major hospital sites in Manchester.
- Signage regarding the use of wheelchairs should be improved across all three major hospital sites including how to use them.
- The availability of information regarding the use of wheelchairs should be improved across all three majority hospital sites.
Download the Report here: