Accessible to all?

Roger Gullidge reviews what steps need to be taken to make a practice wheelchair compatible.

Not having access to a dentist with disabled access can put someone with limited mobility off seeing a dental professional. So making sure they can access your practice is incredibly important, even if it isn’t always the easiest process. People with limited mobility need to be able to receive dental attention with minimal difficulty. Under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) ‘reasonable adjustments’ should be made to premises to make sure this is possible. When building a new practice or refurbishing your current one, actions will need to be taken to make sure that any patients who use a wheelchair can access the facilities. Though it is likely there will be PCT requirements regarding what should be provided, the legal requirements will be found in the building regulation's requirements under various headings.

When we think of making a dental practice suitable for wheelchair users most of us immediately think of making it practical for disabled patients. However, the possibility of employing disabled staff will also need to be taken into consideration. For instance, it is a little known fact that a typical dental practice does not have to provide its patients with a toilet (as they are not deemed to stay for a sufficient length of time to require the use of one). Legally toilet facilities are only required for staff. So, the possibility of hiring, for instance, a receptionist who uses a wheelchair must be contemplated during a refurbishment or new build and measure must be taken to accommodate this occurrence. The height of the reception desk and the position of the privacy panel are also quite an important DDA requirement.