Southeastern Train stations are all aboard Stoma Friendly Toilets!

16 August, 2023

Colostomy UK and Southeastern Railway are pleased to announce that the accessible toilets at Stations across the Southeastern network are now Stoma Friendly, and also include Stoma Friendly signage.

Southeastern run one of the busiest rail networks in the country, carrying over 400,000 passengers a day on services between London and Kent, and parts of East Sussex, including the UK’s first domestic high-speed service.

All accessible toilets on the network have been upgraded to include the following:

• Hook on door – To hang clothing, handbags and luggage while changing stoma bags. This provides more space in the cubicle.
• Shelf space – To enable people living with a stoma to spread out their items easily and avoid having to use unsanitary surfaces.
• Mirror – To enable users to see their stoma while changing their appliances.
• Disposal bin in every cubicle – To avoid embarrassment for men and women having to dispose of their stoma bag in public view.
• Accessible #stomafriendly toilet signage – To highlight the right of people living with a stoma to use the toilet and reduce the risk of hostility for ostomates when using an accessible toilet.

Giovanni Cinque Marketing & Campaigns Manager for Colostomy UK welcomed Southeastern’s commitment to making travel on their network easier for people living with a stoma.

“Results from our 2022 Stoma Aware survey revealed that 62% of respondents believe a lack of suitable toilet facilities is impacting on their day-to-day life, discouraging them from many of the activities much of society takes for granted.

Confidence in the knowledge that suitable facilities exist across the network will I’m sure encourage the thousands of people living with a stoma who are potential Southeastern passengers to get on board whether it be for work or leisure. We hope their vision will soon be replicated by other train companies across the UK”

Laura Holmes, Accessibility and Inclusion Manager, Inclusive Customer Experience says:

“We continually engage with our Accessible Travel Advisory Panel and one of our members noticed the need for more stoma-friendly facilities.  We saw this as an opportunity to make our own accessible toilets more inclusive and have now installed over 75 stoma shelves in accessible toilets across our network.  We were able to do this with the help and support of Colostomy UK who provided us with key information about the size and placement of a stoma shelf within a toilet facility.

We are really pleased with this achievement and we will continue to make improvements to the facilities we offer at Southeastern to make our network a place where everyone feels welcome and can travel with confidence.”

The full list of all seventy one stations with Stoma Friendly accessible toilet facilities can be found here https://www.colostomyuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Southeastern-Railway-stations-featuring-Stoma-Friendly-Accessible-toilets.pdf

For more on Colostomy UK’s campaigns visit https://www.colostomyuk.org/campaigns/

Find out more about Southeastern here https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/