It’s always fantastic to see businesses and organisations making efforts to improve their premises for disabilities of all kinds, which is why we thought it was great to hear that John Lennon Airport had received the inaugural Ostomy Friendly Airport Award from Stomawise and the Civil Aviation Authority
The award was given due to the airport’s commitment over the last few years to improve facilities at the airport for ostomates who travel through. This included training staff to be mindful of people who may have had stoma surgery, particularly during the security phase which can be a daunting time.
Changing facilities have also been modified and improved to suit the needs of ostomates. For example, a shelf has been introduced to each of the airports facilities to aid in the changing of bags and avoid the need to place supplies on the floor. A simple, but important change for those who have a need to change before or after flying, also much more hygienic. They also implemented designated changing places in the busiest areas of the airport.
Finally, Stomawise and John Lennon Airport teamed up to create an ostomy travel passport that had detailed information in several languages to help ostomates travelling. In addition, it had plenty of useful tips and pieces of advice for ostomates who were travelling, some of which you can see here in our travel advice section.
At Oakmed, we often discuss the need for more awareness around stomas and how facilities need to be improved in this regard. It’s for this reason we thought it was only right to applaud John Lennon Airport and the staff that work there for the fantastic work they’re doing to make ostomates more comfortable.
