Islanders left 'embarrassed' after mobility scooter ban at Jersey's hospital

People who use mobility scooters in Jersey are upset, after being told they are no longer allowed inside the hospital.

A number of patients were told they couldn't take them inside Jersey's General Hospital and were made to leave them outside the entrance.

A porter then had to take them to their appointment in a wheelchair - after a miscommunication of hospital policy.

This has caused major distress to some patients who felt humiliated and ashamed by having to relying on someone else to do tasks like taking them to the toilet.

Coral Howard had an experience where the wheelchair they put her in wouldn't fit through the door.

Coral said it was awkward and clumsy, and made her feel very disabled at the time, because they had to open another door to let her through.

"By the time you get to the stage where you are in a scooter, your last resemblance of independence is that scooter. The last thing you want is to be dragged round the hospital in a wheelchair. It was quite traumatic."

  • Coral Howard

Nanette De Mouilpied was going for her dialysis appointment when she was told she couldn't take her scooter in.

"It's just a total inconvenience when you're used to being independent and that independence is just suddenly taken away.

"Nobody knows what it's like to be disabled, unless you are."

  • Nanette De Mouilpied

A government spokesperson has responded to the complaints saying, "Due to a misunderstanding by some members of staff, some visitors have recently been asked to leave their mobility scooters outside.

"HCS would like to apologise to anyone who may have been affected by this misunderstanding and to reassure visitors that Hospital staff have been reminded that mobility scooters are allowed inside the building."