As part of the Leeds Age Friendly Steering Group, they’ve been tasked with assessing route finding and signage at the hospital to see how easy it is to find departments and point out where improvements can be made to wayfinding and accessibility.
Robert, who’s 91 and from Leeds, uses a wheeled mobility aid to get around, which doubles as a seat when he needs to rest. Seating is at the top of his mind whilst he’s walking the long corridor between Gledhow Wing and Chancellor’s Wing. “There are seats on the wall along the way, which is good,” he observes, “but there aren’t any at the top of the ramp from Gledhow Wing. That would be where I’d want a rest after climbing that ramp.”
1 in 3 people living in Leeds are aged 50 and above. A wide programme of work in the city is ongoing to create Age Friendly places, communities, and services, including the city’s hospitals.
13 members of the Leeds Age Friendly Steering Group made a special visit to the hospital site recently after being invited by Lead Nurse for Older People, Ali Raycraft, and Associate Director of Estates, Peter Aldridge.
Peter said: “We have seven hospital sites in Leeds occupying an enormous estates footprint. This makes a huge challenge for establishing wayfinding, as visitors to our hospitals often need to navigate multiple wings, floors and departments, usually over distance.
“Older people represent a significant demographic of the population we serve – and we are incredibly grateful for the Leeds Age Friendly Steering Group for providing a candid view from their lived experience. It means we can feel confident any future developments are making a difference to the people who use our services.”
The purpose of the site visit was to look at what works well and what could be further developed to be more Age Friendly. The group focused on assessing the experience of ‘being a visitor’ to the hospital and looked at navigating the hospital site and using the amenities.
Using a checklist from the free Age and Dementia Friendly Business Scheme, the group split up into pairs and went on separate missions to locate different departments. They considered different factors such as the physical environment, communication and information, and respect and inclusion.
On their mission, David and Robert arrive at Chancellor Wing reception, having followed signage to get there. Finding their way back, however, proves challenging.
“The signage was very good on the way there, but there aren’t any signs for Gledhow Wing going back,” David observes, following the return route from memory.
David, 78 and from Leeds, has been part of the Age Friendly Steering Group for eight years. It’s work he’s proud to take part in and he jumped at the opportunity to come to St James’s. “Ali and Peter are really keen we come and help them with this,” he said. “We know that some improvements come with a high cost – redoing pavements for better wheelchair access for example – but there are also lots of small changes that could make a big difference and are much simpler to implement. It’s our job to point these out.”
Ali Raycraft, Lead Nurse for Older People, said: “It’s vital we listen to people who have different needs, and who can use their experience to show us things we might have missed, as well as tell us what is working and what we can do more of. We recently launched our Frailty Strategy which sets out our ambition to be Age and Dementia Friendly across all our hospitals and services – a big part of that is working in partnership with groups like the Age Friendly Steering Group and increasing the number of Age Friendly Ambassadors. Of course, if we improve things for this demographic, we are actually improving things for everyone.”
Age Friendly is one of three goals under the Leeds Ambition to be ‘Healthy’. Part of this is the ambition to make Leeds the best city to grow old in – a place where people in later life (age 50+) age well, lead healthy, connected, fulfilling, independent lives and are valued, feel respected and are recognised as assets.
Councillor Emma Flint, Leeds City Council executive member for equality, health and wellbeing, said: “Hospitals are busy and can be daunting and confusing places, particularly if you have a disability or struggle with mobility and this is a great example of how the Age Friendly Leeds programme can give practical advice on making public places more accessible for older people.
“Working with partners, such as the hospital, we want to make Leeds the best city for people to grow old in, an Age Friendly city where people of all ages are valued, respected and appreciated. In practical terms, an Age Friendly city adapts its structures and services to be accessible to older people, and this initiative shows how we can work together to do that.”
Elizabeth Griffin is the facilitator for the Age Friendly Steering Group and manages the Friendly Communities Project for Leeds Older People’s Forum. She said: “We have a simple mission to make Leeds an age and dementia friendly city. By making infrastructure more accessible we improve our neighbourhoods for everyone. The Age Friendly Steering Group is open to adults of any age who want to help make the city more inclusive and better to live in. We get to put our feedback direct to Leeds councillors and services so we can make a big impact on decision making and change things for the better.”
She added: “We also relish invites like this to Leeds Hospitals where we can work in partnership to help organisations shape plans and make improvements. The members of this group all come from diverse walks of life and have rich lived experience which provides valuable insight and that can go on to be factored into future developments. Leeds Hospitals has made an important gesture that other organisations can follow – it improves transparency, engages with their key service users, and this in turn improves confidence in services.”