So, what exactly do the regulations state?
Healthcare and Accompanying Services Accessibility – What Does it Mean?
- Accessibility to healthcare anytime: even during an emergency, a person with disability will receive healthcare at the same quality and availability as the general public.
- Adjustment as needed: during an emergency, a medical establishment will adjust its healthcare providing method for a person with disability as much as possible so that they can receive all the medical services they need. If it is impossible to provide the regular treatment, an alternative solution has to be found as soon as possible, so that no one is left without treatment.
Clinic Shelter
Every clinic should have an accessible shelter with clear signage, enough room for a person in a wheelchair and a companion, and an accessible way leading to it. If the way to the shelter is inaccessible, an alternative shelter has to be found, allowing access from every floor in the building.
Accessible Communication and Accessible Information
- Even during an emergency, the routine accessible means of communication with the Ministry of Health and clinics will remain available. The clinic will post an update in case one or more of those means of communication become unavailable to the public.
- Clinics and the Ministry of Health are obliged to publish clear and accessible information to the public during emergencies: which clinics are open and what are their accessibility arrangements, including information regarding an accessible shelter.
- A person with disability who cannot reach the clinic because of inaccessibility will receive alternative healthcare from the Ministry of Health or their clinic, at their home or their residential facility.
- A person with disability will have access to information regarding emergency healthcare, at the same quality and availability as the rest of the public has during emergencies or non-emergency situations.
- Essential medical information, including warnings, do-and-don’ts, and activities to avoid, will be accessible for people with disabilities so that everyone can understand and prepare accordingly.
- The Ministry of Health will publish preliminary guidelines that aid a person with disability to prepare accordingly to emergencies, to optimize receiving services – including a list of medical documents which should be carried, essential personal information, etc.
Unites Clinic – Accessible Service for All, from Every Clinic
- During an emergency, a united clinic may form – a clinic providing for all people, without regard to their usual clinic. Here too, the regulations ensure that each person, including a person with a disability, will receive equal, accessible service:
- One member of the clinic staff will be designated to assist people with disabilities – and will wear a clear badge that says “Assistance for people with disabilities”.
- If the needed treatment cannot be given, and especially if the person with the disability is a member of another clinic – the staff will contact the relevant clinic directly to ensure a fast and efficient continuity of treatment.
- The publication will use simple and clear language.
- The united clinic itself will be as accessible as possible, according to the emergency situation.
Information Center for Remote Communication
- To ensure everyone can contact the health services even from afar – the phone services and other remote communication methods will be available during emergencies, using a variety of methods: remote transcribing of the speaker’s words for people with disabilities in real-time, remote translation for sign language using a video chat, written communication like texting, email, and more.
- The services will be offered by people skilled in communication with people with disabilities, and will operate on the same hours as the phone service and remote communication operated by the Ministry of Health. Also, alternatives will be established for cases of communication networks collapsing.
- In addition, during non-emergency times, a database of short, accessible messages for emergencies will be prepared. The messages will explain in simple language what the public should do, when, and how. Those messages are meant to help a person with disability to understand the process, prepare in advance, and reduce anxiety – because clear, accessible information is not just a service, it is security.
What About Preparations, Specialized Food, and Food Supplements?
The regulations state that during an emergency:
- A person with disability will be able to receive the preparations, specialized food, and food supplements needed for them, and conduct medical tests to receive the prescriptions they need.
- If, following an emergency, the prescription filing system of one clinic collapses – other clinics will back it up and provide prescriptions instead, to keep the continuity of treatment.
- There will be flexibility, and it will be possible for a person with disability to receive a non-electronic prescription for a prescription by a doctor – a prescription that will be accepted at the pharmacy.
- The clinics are required to prepare for transportation and delivery of preparations, specialized food, and food supplements directly to the person with disability’s place of residency. Also, pharmacies will be able to deliver medicine by a courier, because when you cannot get out of the house – the service comes to you.
And What About Those Who Live In Residential Facilities?
For people with disabilities who live in a residential facility, the clinics will make preparations to ensure full continuity of treatment:
- Renewal of prescriptions and approvals will be conducted without requiring physical arrival at the clinic.
- Ongoing supply of medicine, specialized food, and food supplements will continue to function during an emergency, including increasing inventory in advance.
- During an emergency, clinics will provide service at the residential facilities, the public emergency clinics, a temporary medical center, or – if there is no other option – a hospital.
Temporary Medical Centers – Accessibility Is Important There Too
In the case that a temporary medical center is established, it must follow accessibility standards – including an accessible path from the outside to the inside of the center and its services. It must be ensured that a bathroom, a fitting room, and a shower (for public use) will be accessible. If the place has a shelter, it will be accessible, including clear identification and direction signage leading to it.
In case it is impossible to make the entire center accessible – alternative accessibility solutions will be given, while maintaining human privacy.
The center will have, inter alia:
- Service and treatment station adjusted for wheelchairs and accessibility aids.
- Staff skilled in assisting people with disabilities according to their needs – including accompanying, mediating communication, assisting with dressing up, assisting with filling up forms, etc.
- A separate place for a temporary stay of a person with disability who struggles to cope with the occurrence at the place due to their disability.
Accessible Information in Any Situation
Any temporary medical center will provide simple and clear information:
What are the steps for receiving treatment at the center, what does the service receiver have to do, where and when, what can the patient expect to experience (pain, discomfort) – and everything in a simple language, with added pictures, using writing or reading according to the service receiver’s needs. In the case of information provided by an electronic sign, a message noting new information is also provided by a voice announcement will be published.
In-Home Healthcare – Including Remote Care
Clinics (or any provider of in-home healthcare) will continue providing healthcare to the patient at their home, even during an emergency – including supplying preparations, specialized food, and food supplements, absorbents and hygiene products, and providing treatments and medical tests. In-home healthcare will be able to be conducted remotely, as long as it does not endanger the person with disability. As part of the in-home healthcare, contact with the patient or their representative must be actively established to ensure their well-being and needs.
In case it is impossible to continue the treatment at home – an option for orderly evacuation to an alternative treatment facility may be examined, with the consent of the person with the disability.
Essential Rehabilitation Equipment
Rehabilitation equipment providers are defined as essential businesses.
They are required to make preparations in advance for equipment supply continuity, fixes and replacements even during emergencies, and provide accessible communication channels for people with disabilities.
Guardians and Attorney-In-Facts
One who is responsible for a person with disability must ensure they get their needed medical services even during an emergency, whether at home or at a residential facility.
Training, Learning, and Practice
The Ministry of Health and the Health Funds are required to train the clinics’ staff on how to provide reasonable service and an initial support response to people with various disabilities.
Publication, Updates, and Accessibility
The procedures, recommendations, and updates will be posted on the sites of all relevant institutions, in an accessible format, and will be updated at least once every five years or after every emergency event.
The information will also be available via other means upon request of a person with disability – phone, email, fax, SMS, etc.
Accessibility – Even Through an Emergency
The accessibility accommodations themselves must stay intact and available even during an emergency.
If a temporary change is needed to save lives – an alternative solution must be provided.
Because even through an emergency – there are no compromises regarding equity, dignity, and health.
As we have seen, the regulations cover a variety of topics linked to accessibility and healthcare during emergencies, but the message is clear: emergency or not – accessibility is not going on a time-out. Even during an emergency, each person is entitled to service, information, and medical security, anytime, anywhere. Because accessibility is not just comfort – it is security, a basic right, and an inseparable part of the strength of us all.