Seaton resident Rose Bunce says the 'state of public toilets' in Seaton is making people with stoma bags in the area feel like 'lesser citizens.'

Rose has contacted East Devon District Council and Seaton Town Council to get these changes made, but she says she has 'gotten nowhere.' She wants the council to install stoma-friendly toilets as standard in public toilets. 

There are two thousand people at Exeter Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital registered as a stoma user, Rose being one of them and a Facebook group set up for people with a stoma to share tips and experiences has said this is a UK-wide not just limited to East Devon, but still impacts residents.

She is a huge advocate for disability positivity. She added: "I want to break the stigma of stomas, there is nothing to be ashamed of and we can do everything everyone else can, it's just we have a stoma bag. But the state of public toilets is unacceptable and should not be tolerated. 

An area needs to be sterile in order to change a stoma bag. It can increase the risk of infection if the area stoma users are changing in is not clean. She is calling for the council to create 'stoma friendly' areas in every toilet in East Devon.

To make a public toilet stoma-friendly, it needs a platform, much like a baby changing shelf, a bin under the shelf to dispose of the bag, and a mirror in front of it. Rose says this costs less than £50 to install but is not thought of when public toilets are fitted or renovated.

Rose told the Herald: "It makes me feel like a lesser citizen. I was out for a walk on Seaton seafront the other day, the sun was out. I found myself needing to empty my stoma. I headed to the public disabled toilet and was disgusted with what I found. It had vandalism, needles on the floor and poo, it really put me off. I ended up having to head home and stay in for the rest of the day. I was not able to enjoy the sun because my stoma bag needed changing. It was disgusting.

"I was horrified to find that it was unlocked, and in a disgrace filthy condition and totally unusable.

"This left me extremely upset and having to immediately return home with a total loss of confidence."

She is calling on EDDC to just 'clean the toilets and make them habitable for everyone, and for a stoma-friendly area to be installed.'

In response, a spokesman for EDDC said: “We are sorry to hear that Rose found the toilets in Seaton in a condition that falls below the standards that the council and visitors expect. Vandals frequently target EDDC’s toilets, and we regret that a clean-up did not take place quickly enough in this instance.”

“Refurbishments are planned for public toilets across the district from July onwards. Major improvements will include accessible Changing Places facilities, that are expected to be easier to clean too. Our new toilets are being built to the correct disabled access standards, which will include bins where stoma bags can be disposed of. We believe this toilet standard design is stoma friendly.”