Stuart Read a researcher at The Norah Fry Centre for Disability Studies, University of Bristol wrote:
‘We are currently doing some research about how hospitals in England make changes, or ‘reasonable adjustments’, to their services so that disabled people are not disadvantaged when accessing healthcare. Examples of reasonable adjustments include: providing a ramp entrance, a loop hearing system, or longer appointment times, as well as sending letters in easy-read format or large print.
We are interested in hearing about disabled people’s experiences of reasonable adjustments and are currently looking for people who would like to be interviewed about their experiences. We would like to know how hospital services have provided reasonable adjustments to meet your needs, as well as learning about what has worked well, and what could have been better.
The interview will take about an hour, and we can either come and talk with you in person or talk to you over the telephone. All disabled people who take part in this interview will be offered a £20 gift voucher.
To be able to take part, we ask that you self-identify as a disabled person, are aged 18 or over, and have attended, or been admitted to any hospital in England in the last two years.
If you are interested in taking part in the project, or would like more information, please contact either Dr Stuart Read: stuart.read@bristol.ac.uk, 0117 331 0471; or Victoria Mason: victoria.mason@bristol.ac.uk, by Friday 30th September 2016.
Please note that we would like to hear experiences from disabled people across all regions of England. Therefore, we may be unable to interview everyone who expresses an interest in taking part in the project. Stuart or Victoria will get back to you by Friday 7th October 2016 to let you know whether we will be able to interview you. We aim to complete the interviews in October-December 2016.