A man has told of his anger at being denied use of a staff toilet at a Tesco branch despite it being an 'emergency' situation. Wayne Jones suffers with Crohn's and was in Eccles when he suddenly needed the toilet.
Crohn's can cause people to need the toilet fast as the bowel condition can cause sudden diarrhoea and severe stomach pain. He stopped at the Eccles Tesco Express petrol station while in a rush to find a toilet, but, unfortunately this branch did not have a public toilet as other petrol stations or larger stores would have.
Wayne was carrying his Crohn's and Colitis UK 'Can't Wait Card' which explains the Crohn's condition and offers a discreet way of letting staff know that they need a toilet quickly. The 38-year-old asked a member of staff, who asked a manager, if he could use the staff toilet, but this was refused despite the emergency circumstances. This left Wayne feeling discriminated against and now in a panic to find somewhere else to go.
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Wayne told the Manchester Evening News that on past occasions at other stores he has been allowed to use the staff toilets as it was understood it is an emergency with Crohn's. "I was having a particularly bad day with it and when you have to go you have to go," he said.
"When I have showed other companies the card before they know the laws, you can’t stop anyone from using the toilet when they need it. Nine times out of 10 they let you use the staff toilet and send someone with you which is absolutely fine, I just need to use the toilet, it doesn’t cost them anything.
"Members of staff have taken me to the staff toilet before and waited outside which is absolutely fine. I just need to use the toilet and usually people are very understanding."
The charity Crohn's and Colitis UK has been campaigning for a number of years for better and more readily available access to toilets to improve the quality of life for people living with the disease. Limited access to public toilets can discourage people with the condition from leaving the house or leave people worried about having to ask to use toilets in various different settings.
Crohn's and Colitis UK has been working with a number of larger retailers to raise awareness of the disease and the 'Can't Wait Card' to stop situations like this from happening to the more than 500,000 people who live with the disease in the UK. This includes Argos, Co-Op, Superdrug, and M&S.
"I think it’s very important that staff at big stores like Tesco are more aware of this and know the rules. They should have the right training somewhere like this," Wayne added.
"The manager seemed far more concerned about a problem they were having with the tills at the time than the sheer discomfort I was in.
"I felt discriminated against, it was really sad, and completely embarrassing. They should have been doing their best to help a person in need.
"If it hadn’t been for a working mans up the road I could have been in a very bad way."
A Tesco spokesman told the MEN that where possible they do allow customers to use staff toilets in an emergency. They have apologised that this did not happen on this occasion.
"We’re sorry this happened. Everyone is welcome at Tesco and we work hard to support all our customers and colleagues with their needs."
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