18 June 2014

There are some things that should be taken for granted; access for all to NHS events should be taken for granted. Or so I thought! (silly naive man!)

When I was privileged to hear, inter alia, Sir Bert Massey speak at the LSE Human Rights anniversary debate, there was no problem with access (he was the chairman of the Disability Rights Commission, and wheelchair-bound). 

I'm used to planning ahead anywhere I want to go. I know that most of the tube network is not accessible; it's been built for 150 years, so that's no surprise. 

I didn't expect that an event organised by the NHS would be held in a building that had no access beyond the ground floor.  It wasn't anybody's fault, although everybody apologised.  

So there I was, ready to give a short address and take part in a plenary session, and I sat in the coffee area, on the ground floor. Some people came down and heard me speak, just before they had lunch, but that was all. 

I didn't feel angry. I didn't feel frustrated. I did feel very sorry for the organisers. Really, in the 21st century, we shouldn't have these sort of problems, but we do. It seems that advance notice needs to be given. That makes me sad. 

16 June 2014

It would be melodramatic to plagiarise Dickens and say "it was the best of times and it was the worst of times", but in some ways it would be true. I had one aim - to go to my cousin's party in Brighton. No big deal. I decided to drive. 

My FES was connected up for the short journey from my door to the car. Easy. Except my shoes have too much grip. The mat inside the door was too 'grippy' and the one outside the door even worse. Instead of getting easily from A to B, I was stuck on A. 

As I tried to figure out how to escape from the dilemma, my strength went and I collapsed, slowly but without any hope of recovery, until I was flat on my back. 

At least I could now think about my predicament. 

I slowly dragged myself over, up onto my knees, and into 'old smokey'. Then out to the rear of the car, leaving T to return the chair to its rightful place. The drive was uneventful, the party was ace. 

The drive home was just as easy. 

I learned that I need to move the mats from the doorway in future.