We take a lead in providing accessibility information for over 200 clinical sites

Anna Nelson, Executive Director at AccessAble, has said “NHSPS was a founding partner of AccessAble’s accessibility service for the NHS. Through their leadership we have been able to change the conversation on what constitutes good accessibility information for disabled people and carers accessing NHS services.’’

Anna added that ‘’The commitment of NHSPS to promoting the reality people will face and a desire to improve facilities has acted as the catalyst for the expansion of our service across 60 NHS Trusts in England. Our service currently covers over 6000 NHS services and helps 1.8 million people each year.

A link to these guides can now be found directly on the NHSPS website to provide disabled people, carers, friends and family with detailed information on what to expect when visiting a site. From transport options, to car parking facilities, to information on the reception area and distances to toilets, over 1,000 pieces of information on a clinical site is now available to take the chance out of going out.

AccessAble provide guides for over 125,000 properties and services including restaurants, cinemas and tourists’ attractions. AccessAble send trained surveyors to review properties and provide reliable information to the community in the form of accessibility guides.

Set up in 2000 by Dr Gregory Burke as a result of his own experience as a wheelchair user, AccessAble has grown to support over one and a half million people go about their lives with increased confidence. AccessAble users range from those with physical disabilities which makes accessing buildings challenging, to people dealing with anxiety or stress when visiting a new place and like to know what they can expect, to families with children who want to reliably know if they can fit a pram through the front door. AccessAble is aiming to support three million people in 2020.

Alison Davies, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at NHS Property Services, has said ‘’This is a partnership we are extremely proud of. AccessAble do fantastic work to support people to access the services they need and take the fear out of going to new places. We want people to feel welcome, confident and empowered. It is important that NHS Property Services takes a lead in ensuring that people are provided with what they need to be comfortable to access health care services.’’

The AccessAble guides are available for over 200 sites on the property search function of the NHS Property Services website or directly through AccessAble’s own website and App which is free to download on Apple and Android.

For information on other corporate social responsibility efforts at NHSPS, including our growing role in social prescribing, visit our CSR web page.