Southeastern has taken some simple measures to make its stations' accessible toilets suitable for passengers with a stoma.
For some medical conditions, doctors create an opening in the wall of the tummy, connecting the bowel to the surface and allowing faeces to pass into a disposable bag rather than out through the rectum and anus in the usual way. A stoma made from an opening in the large intestine (colon) is called a colostomy; a stoma made from an opening in the small bowel (ileum), it is called an ileostomy.
People with a stoma, known as ostomates, need to have appropriate facilities available to change their bags. Lack of these facilities presents a barrier to people travelling.
To achieve this, Southeastern has added the following, only to its accessible toilets on stations:
- a hook on the door: for hanging clothing, handbags and luggage while changing stoma bags, providing more space in the cubicle;
- shelf space: to enable people to spread out their items easily and avoid having to use unsanitary surfaces;
- a mirror: to enable users to see their stoma while changing their appliances;
- a disposal bin in every cubicle: to maintain dignity by removing the need to dispose of a stoma bag in public view;
- accessible #stomafriendly toilet signage: to highlight the availability of the toilet and reduce the risk of hostility for ostomates when using an accessible toilet.
71 stations have been made Stoma Friendly, which are Ebbsfleet International,Albany Park ,Ashford International ,Bat and Ball ,Battle,Bearsted ,Beckenham Junction,Bexley,Blackheath ,Borough Green & Wrotham ,Broadstairs,Bromley North ,Bromley South ,Canterbury East ,Canterbury West ,Charlton ,Chatham,Crayford ,Dartford ,Deal ,Dover,Elmers End,Eltham,Folkestone Central ,Folkestone West,Gillingham (Kent) ,Gravesend ,Greenhithe ,Greenwich,Grove Park ,Hastings ,Hayes (Kent) ,Herne Bay ,Herne Hill ,Kidbrooke ,Lee (London) ,Lewisham ,London Waterloo East ,Maidstone East ,Maidstone West,Margate ,Maze Hill ,Mottingham,New Cross ,New Eltham,Orpington,Otford ,Paddock Wood ,Rainham (Kent) ,Ramsgate Station ,Rochester ,Sandwich ,Shortlands ,Sidcup ,Sevenoaks ,Sittingbourne ,Snodland,St Leonards Warrior Square,Staplehurst ,Strood (Kent),Swanley Station ,Tonbridge ,Tunbridge Wells ,Welling,West Malling,West Wickham ,Westcombe Park ,Whitstable ,Woolwich Arsenal ,Woolwich Dockyard ,Faversham
Information on Colostomy UK's campaigns is available here.
Giovanni Cinque Marketing & Campaigns Manager for Colostomy UK welcomed Southeastern's commitment to making travel on their network easier for people living with a stoma.
“Results from our 2022 Stoma Aware survey revealed that 62% of respondents believe a lack of suitable toilet facilities is impacting on their day-to-day life, discouraging them from many of the activities much of society takes for granted.
Confidence in the knowledge that suitable facilities exist across the network will I'm sure encourage the thousands of people living with a stoma who are potential Southeastern passengers to get on board whether it be for work or leisure. We hope their vision will soon be replicated by other train companies across the UK.”
Laura Holmes, Accessibility and Inclusion Manager, Inclusive Customer Experience says: “We continually engage with our Accessible Travel Advisory Panel and one of our members noticed the need for more stoma-friendly facilities. We saw this as an opportunity to make our own accessible toilets more inclusive and have now installed over 75 stoma shelves in accessible toilets across our network.
“We're able to do this with the help and support of Colostomy UK who provided us with key information about the size and placement of a stoma shelf within a toilet facility.
“We're really pleased with this achievement and we'll continue to make improvements to the facilities we offer at Southeastern to make our network a place where everyone feels welcome and can travel with confidence.”
Other than the signs, how are these facilities any different to existing baby changing facilities.