“You smell !” - when my grandson told me that, I lost all dignity. I had a stroke about a year ago and since then I have been incontinent. One day my best friend Andy found me staggering dangerously to the toilet because I couldn’t bear the idea of my daughter having to clean me afterwards.” Andy’s natural reaction was, “I have to try to develop something to help my pal, Peter.” Many inventions begin this way; a need, and a desire to overcome a problem. The driving force was strong to help an old friend in desperate circumstances. It was long and difficult road from cutting up a garden chair, bought from the local supermarket, to working with the UK National Health Service’s Institute for Health Research. From communicating with Asian electronic component suppliers to finding a UK manufacturer to help to take the invention to market. But Andy was driven, and his Dignity Commode is now available.

The undignified problem that effected Andy’s best friend and many thousands of others was an inability to wipe their own bottom. We can all imagine how degrading and embarrassing this must be. Strokes and other health problems put lots of people in that situation. They struggle to maintain their independence and continue a normal life.

The culmination of Andy’s development is a self-contained mobile bidet commode; a toilet seat with a controlled warm water jet spray to clean, and warm air to dry afterwards. This is attached to a hygienic plastic and steel chair with an integral clean water reservoir, which is simply filled by hand from the nearest tap, and a unique lidded potty to allow for easy disposal of the waste. Absorbent bags which eliminate stools, urine and odours can make disposal even easier.

The inventor’s design was refined with the help of the clinical engineering team at one of the UK’s largest hospital trusts and Devices for Dignity whose role is to work with the Department of Health, healthcare professionals, patients and industry to produce items that will genuinely help people to take control and improve their lives.