Saturday, March 23, 2013

How To Make A Hospital Disabled Friendly



SYABAS to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for calling for world standard user-friendly facilities for hospitals in the country.

He made this remark during his visit last Thursday to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) in the capital.

The Prime Minister was there to launch HKL’s specialist clinic and ambulatory care centre.

“We must make this hospital user-friendly in all aspects,” The Star quoted him as saying.

The country’s number one man also stressed that improvements must start in hospitals’ car parks.    

No one would’ve appreciated the Prime Minister’s concerns more than persons with disabilities and the elderly – especially those who have walking difficulties and in wheelchairs.

Apart from whatever conditions they may be suffering from, often just to get into a hospital building itself can be quite a torturous affair! 

The following are some suggestions on how hospitals can be more friendly to persons and patients with permanent handicaps:

Handicapped Friendly Car Park:
Ø Make sure you have enough of them. In a hospital setting, it would make good sense to have “more” rather than “less” of them as needless to say, more disabled drivers would likely be found in such places than elsewhere.
Ø Place them directly next to the hospital entrances. This may present an awkward moment to relocate the hospital director’s or some other hot shot’s slot who usually gets the best spot in the area. They should not be placed anywhere else where physically disabled patients would be forced to accomplish totally needless “Olympic stunts” just to get into the hospitals. Some situations have actually caused blood pressure readers and stethoscopes to go berserk and doctors to go white-in-the-face until we explain our “ordeal” to them. Never put them in places where patients have to cross the road. We may unwittingly end up in another clinic like the emergency instead of what we originally went there for. Semi-paralysed legs (with crutch and walking-sticks users) and weak hands for wheelchair users can suddenly freeze for many reasons with oncoming traffic so this should be avoided.
Ø Handicapped car parks, especially when they are limited, should be made available to those who they are strictly reserved for: wheelchair users and those with walking difficulties. The blind, Deaf and learning disabled persons can either be dropped off or disembark in regular parking slots with their helpers.
Ø They should come with a shelter. As disabled people usually take time to get in and out, a covered car park will effectively protect them from the elements which can be harmful to their conditions.   
Ø Prompt action should be taken when disabled car parks are abused. A generous fine of RM100 or more should be imposed. The money collected can be donated to a charity of the hospital’s choice as part of their corporate social responsibility programme.
Ø Wheelchairs should also be made available easily near the car parks should patients require them. Ideally they should be the type where certain parts can be dismantled to the needs of each user. The wheelchairs should be regularly maintained. Dilapidated ones should be promptly replaced.         

Special Training for Hospital Helpers. No amount of good facilities can be truly effective if the people who are offering them are not up to the level with them as well.

Here are some pointers that can make a difference:   

Ø Parking attendants, security guards and hospital assistants should always provide their service courteously and with a smile. They should never bring their problems to work. Persons who are ill, with disabilities or the elderly need positive reinforcements in their lives. It helps to go a long way to stay on top of their struggles each day. They have been many instances where “helpers” at car parks have been grumpy, rude and even refuse to help unload wheelchairs of disabled drivers from the booth. Some even pretend not to look at them beckoning at them for assistance.
Ø Frontline care providers should be given a basic training on disability. They should have a working understanding of what disability and illness is all about and how it affects people. For example, not everyone who uses a wheelchair is unable to walk and not everyone who are paralysed are unable to feel pain. They should be taught how to lift a person if necessary to how to handle wheelchairs and so on.
Ø Needless to say, every hospital should treat their frontline care staff with the highest respect and appreciation. After all, it is they who first convey to each visitor of the hospital how the rest of their experience is going to be. They are many patients who may forget their doctors but not the front door staff who help them from the moment they arrive there until they have left.

The End.

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