HOISTS IN MAINSTREAM HOTELS
The limiting factors
We are beginning to see more ceiling track hoists in mainstream hotels. This is good news but we need to recognise that the starting point is very low – 4 outside the UK and 5 within England and Wales. CHuC has been working to persuade hotels to install separate track in bathroom and bedroom with a transportable hoist. We know this equipment does not meet everyone’s needs, but we have taken a view on what we believe is a “reasonable adjustment” bearing in mind the fact that there is little concrete evidence of demand from ceiling hoist users.
Hoists are installed in accessible bedrooms, but it has to be born in mind that these bedrooms are generally not dedicated, that is, if they are not required by a disabled guest they will be let out to non-disabled guests. As a result hotels do not want equipment in the room that is overly intrusive when not being used, and are therefore limited in the choice of hoist and track layout they can use.
{jb_redbox}The new generation of transportable hoists can be removed when the room is used by a non-disabled guest or when there is a disabled guest who doesn’t need the facility. This has enabled us to persuade Asset Managers and those responsible for ensuring 100% room occupancy wherever possible, that a hoist is a viable proposition. We recognise that no electric traverse means the hoist may not be used by some independent ceiling hoist users. Some hotels are able to offer a complimentary PA or carer room to assist. {/jb_redbox}
At home many ceiling hoist users have a continuous track from their bedroom to the bathroom. However, with the room being used by other guests, having a hole in the wall above the bathroom door is not considered acceptable. There may also be a significant difference between the ceiling height in the bedroom and the bathroom. The solution we recommend of two separate tracks requires a different shower curtain but otherwise is simply a straight bar on the ceiling of each room which is coloured as the ceiling and blends in.
The physical construction of the hotel also means that in some places they cannot fit a ceiling track hoist at all. We know of one major city with 2 hotels in the same chain where neither is suitable.
Things are getting better and CHuC will continue to put pressure on hotels to provide these facilities but please bear with hotels that have installed hoists that don’t precisely meet your needs. But please tell us so that we can gather evidence to move thing on when there is sufficient demand clearly out there – and think how far we have moved in the last 2 years since CHuC began work.
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