RECENTLY, I had the misfortune to be referred to the Diagnostic Radiology Services, Beckles Road, for some tests.
My previous visit to the Clinic, approximately 12 years ago, was far from pleasant. In fact the experience was unforgettable, the bathroom was inaccessible which meant that as a wheelchair user, I had to be lifted up a step to the bathroom, the lone soap bar was dry and cracked with blackened creases. Needless to say patients that cared about their own health did not bother to wash their hands. It was certainly not what I expected from a health service provider. I am pleased to note soap dispensers are now in use.
With the memories still present, I made every effort to attend one of the other highly recommended diagnostic services, but I was not offered an alternative. Presented with a very helpful receptionist at the Beckles Road Clinic, I lived in hope of a good experience.
However, my nightmare began when I was asked to change my clothes in a cubicle that could not accommodate a wheelchair and I was not offered an alternative changing area. With my wheelchair jutting out of the cubicle and skimpy curtains I knew that I would have no privacy. I changed while partly exposed to both male and female waiting patients. Dressed in an open back gown my male acquaintance, not a caregiver, was called to lift me on to the X-ray table. I could not help wondering what would have happened if I was over 200 pounds.
After examination I was shown to a bathroom that could hardly accommodate two people. The door to the toilet opened inward, which meant that it could not accommodate even the front wheels of my chair. In my open back gown I was lifted from my wheelchair, passed waiting patients and placed on the toilet with the door still open.
I was shaken, humiliated and cried uncontrollably. The male acquaintance and a friend from the UK were shocked and talked about the experience as barbaric and a “scene from a Third World country”. The only difference is that I paid for the humiliating and distressing experience.
Facilities
The facilities are old, but with some thought, bathroom doors can open outwards and one cubicle could be extended to house someone with mobility challenges. In addition I would suggest that when patients book they be advised that they would need to provide an assistant or caregiver able to lift them on to the X-ray table.
The question remains, how can the management of a well- established and frequently used medical service have little regard to the needs of patients with mobility challenges, some needing assistance? I also question what is the monitoring role of the Ministry of Health and how women with mobility challenges are treated when undergoing routine medical examinations.
My learning has been that, despite paying for a service, persons with disabilities, the ill and the vulnerable elderly are expected to put up with a disregard for their dignity.
Service providers need to understand that bad experiences remain with us for the rest of our lives. I question why as service users, we continue to live with our nightmares, or indeed neglect our health, and many of us grumble but rarely take action.
The purpose of this letter is not to sensationalise my personal experience but to encourage advocacy and effect change.
My hope is that we challenge each other to say, your turn today but it may be my turn or the turn of my loved ones tomorrow. This has to be followed with advocacy.
– BONETA PHILLIPS
