Stroud Valleys Family Practice | 14th May 2019

Accessibility Rating 

Physical 

Four out of five 

Sensory 

Five out of five 

Location: Stroud Valleys Family Practice  
Beeches Green Health Centre 
Stroud 
GL5 4BH 

Parking

Stroud Valleys Practice is inside Beeches Green Health Centre, where they are joint tenants with Beeches Green practice.
There are 5 accessible parking bays at the front of the building. One of these parking bays is right in front of the building and near a dropped kerb, however the other 4 are across a road. There is only one dropped kerb and it is at the other side to these 4 bays, which mean a wheelchair user will have travel along the road to reach it.

Around the back of the building there is a large car park with 3 more accessible bays. These are down the first left turning on the right, they are not signposted very clearly with only one small sign.

Entrances

Front entrance

The front entrance has a single a push button electric door, which is wide enough to comfortably fit a wheelchair through, followed by double electric doors inside. There is clear signage above these doors leading to reception.
Stroud Valleys is on the right as you enter and has a large, clear sign above the door meaning it is very easy to locate.
There is a singular pull door to get into the practice. I was advised on my visit that there are plans in place for this to be replaced with an electric push button door. I will return once this has been completed.

Rear entrance

From the rear car park there is a clearly signed back entrance. It has 2 push button electric doors to enter. The first is wide enough to fit most wheelchairs through however the second is quite narrow and is followed by a sharp turn into a narrow corridor. This may cause wheelchair users some difficulty.
There would not be enough room for another person to pass a wheelchair down this corridor.
Stroud Valleys is located at the end of the corridor on the left.

Reception

The reception is immediately in front of you as you enter. There is a bell to ring if there is nobody at the reception desk. It does not have a lowered counter so is at an unsuitable height for a wheelchair user or person of a smaller stature.
There is an interactive sign in screen to the right of the reception desk. This is quite high and may be a struggle for wheelchair users or people of a smaller stature.

Waiting area

There is a spacious waiting area to the left of the entrance, which has space for a wheelchair user to wait comfortably without obstructing anyone.
When the GP or nurse is ready, they will come and get patients from the waiting area, or the receptionist is notified they are ready and informs the patient.

Consultation rooms

There are consultation rooms both to the left and right of the waiting room. The rooms to the left are down a narrow corridor which may cause an individual with a large wheelchair some difficulty. The rooms to the right, however, have a much more spacious entrance.
I was able to see two consultations rooms on my visit. One was larger than the other, however they were both a decent size and with chairs removed in the smaller one, they would both comfortably fit a wheelchair user with turning space.
None of the consultation rooms have a hoist.
The doors to the consultation rooms are 820mm wide.
There is clear signage from the consultation rooms to the exit.

Toilet

There is an accessible toilet that is in the main entrance to the building and is shared by both surgeries. There is a sign that directs you down the corridor to the accessible toilet, however this is incorrect as the toilet is in the opposite direction to the sign.

The doorway is 870mm wide and the accessible toilet is well lit and clean. It is 1460mm x 2280mm which is slightly below minimum requirements. There is an emergency pull-cord to the right of the toilet that is too high to reach. The lowest pull-cord is 78cm from the ground and the highest is 148cm.
There is a hand dryer that is set off quite easily and may cause an individual alarm if they set it off accidentally.
The transfer space is on the right of the toilet, however there is a bin in the space meaning a wheelchair would not be able to fit in it.
The toilet seat is at 48cm from the ground which is the correct height for a wheelchair user to transfer to and from.
The grab rails are all contrasting colours to the walls which means they are easily identifiable for an individual with a sight impairment.
There is a tissue dispenser as opposed to toilet roll. This is really good in an accessible toilet as it means that people with limited dexterity or people with the use of only one hand can easily rip off toilet paper.

Offices

The offices are very spacious meaning a wheelchair user would be able to comfortably navigate them should they wish to work in the offices.

Evacuation procedure

There will always be one fire officer and one fire warden on the premises should the fire alarm ring. These people are trained in evacuation and will aid anybody who needs it.
There is a fire exit at the front, rear and side of the building.