Leading provider of mental health, social care, learning disability and substance misuse services in the West Midlands becomes the latest of over 80 NHS Trusts to partner with AccessAble; the UK’s leading provider of detailed disabled-access information.

North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust has worked with AccessAble to create Detailed Access Guides to all Trust clinical sites and services.

The Guides are 100 per cent facts, figures and photographs to help patients, visitors and staff plan their journeys to and around the sites, covering everything from parking facilities and hearing loops, to walking distances and accessible toilets.

We know everyone’s accessibility needs are different, which is why having detailed, accurate information is so important. It’s why all of the details you’ll find in the Guides have been checked in person, on site, by trained surveyors.

Anna Nelson, Chief Executive of AccessAble, said:

“We are delighted to launch this new Accessibility Guide to North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust. Our partnership recognises the Trust’s commitment to providing great patient experience for disabled people.

We know that visiting a hospital or healthcare service can increase anxiety and not being able to find out about the facilities available can really add to that. Our Guides provide part of the solution to reduce missed appointments, giving the information people need about accessibility, so they plan their visit and feel confident about what to expect.”

Ben Richards, Executive Director of Operations at North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust said:

“We’re excited to be working with AccessAble because it’s incredibly important to us that we meet the needs of everyone who visits our hospital. We are ambitious about creating an environment that is as supportive and equitable as possible and navigating around our sites will now be easier to do thanks to the launch of the AccessAble guides.

Our clinical teams have worked with AccessAble’s surveyors to ensure that these guides truly represent what you can expect to experience on our sites.

At Combined Healthcare we are passionate about meeting the needs of our service users and creating spaces where they feel comfortable. Our partnership with AccessAble has helped us deliver this goal.

We hope these guides provide the information people need about accessibility, making journeys to, from and around our sites the best experience possible”.

Dr Buki Adeyemo, Interim Chief Executive of North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust said:

"The AccessAble website/App is an exciting new opportunity to allow us to be much more inclusive and accommodating to disabled people, people who are neurodiverse and people who have other health conditions when visiting our sites and services.

We are thrilled to partner with AccessAble to make Combined Healthcare more accessible for service users and staff alike, and I am sure the launch will be a stepping stone towards our aim of making all of our outstanding healthcare provisions inclusive and accessible to all."

You can view North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust’s Accessibility Guide here

It is also available via the AccessAble App which is free to download from the App Store and Google Play, giving you accessibility information at your fingertips during your hospital visit.

The information to North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust joins over 70,000 places already covered across the UK, making www.AccessAble.co.uk a great tool not only for planning a hospital visit, but also a day out or trip away.

For more information about the project, please contact Ellen Ilott, Senior Partnerships Manager at AccessAble on 01438 842710 or email [email protected].

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