A specialist centre for people with neuromuscular conditions offering unique services and advice, which is the only one of its kind in Europe, is lending its support to total hygiene….

The NeuroMuscular Centre (NMC) in Cheshire not only provides counseling, but operates a financially successful social enterprise offering commercial design and print.

Appreciating the need to make life as fulfilling and productive as possible for the 21 staff with muscular dystrophy, and for clients and professionals visiting the Centre, it has now further adapted its facilities to include bespoke toileting equipment from Total Hygiene.Now, two of the three bathrooms/ washrooms at the Winsford centre incorporate a Clos-o-Mat ‘wash and dry’ toilet, with one also having an Aerolet toilet lift, supplied and installed by Total Hygiene.

Centre support worker Sue Walker explains, “The Centre is largely run by people with neuromuscular conditions, so it is well tuned to the needs of this client group. For us at NMC, having the best equipment on site for our clients to see and use shows them the reality of what they can have in their own homes. The new combination of Clos-o-Mat and Aerolet toilet lift has been very welcome. Many of our clients have gone on to adapt their homes as a result of our advice.

“The combination of a Clos-o-Mat and Aerolet is to our mind the best option for our clients and staff: muscular dystrophy requires that the hips and knees are locked to stand and with very little strength in their arms it becomes increasingly difficult to get up from a conventional toilet without assistance, taking away both their independence and privacy.”

The Clos-o-Mat ‘wash and dry’ toilet is the only one of its kind manufactured in the UK, and developed specifically for disabled people. It is also the only one to have WRAS approval allowing legal connection to the mains water supply.

The unit looks like, and can be used as, a conventional WC; an integral douche and warm air drier operated by simple hand or body pressure on the flush pad effectively cleanse the user and eliminate the need to manually wipe clean after toileting.

The Aerolet toilet lift fits over the toilet- whether a traditional WC or Clos-o-Mat- and replicates the natural motion of standing up and sitting down, gently raising and lowering the user to position them accurately over the toilet as required whilst enabling their feet to remain in contact with the floor and maintaining the centre of gravity above the feet for balance. After toileting, the lift can be raised by degrees to ease access for cleansing.

The Clos-o-Mat and Aerolet are just part of Total Hygiene’s range of accessible toileting and bathroom equipment, aimed at optimizing dignity, independence and privacy for less able people. Established 40 years ago, it is the leading supplier in its field with over 40,000 Clos-o-Mats in locations from individual’s home to healthcare and leisure- and even on a narrowboat, some of which are still in regular use over three decades after they were first installed! Total Hygiene (www.clos-o-mat.com) is also unique in the UK in its sector in offering a fully integrated service from advice and design through to installation and maintenance.

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