Lewis Gopsill on 07708 173397 or 01342 410 242 lg@dignityaccess.co.uk

WashPod Case Studies

When Charlotte found the perfect rental property in her mother’s neighbouring Kent village for her family of 6, her dreams were nearly foiled by the lack of a downstairs wetroom for her 11 year old son, Joshua, who has Cerebral Palsy.

“I was so disheartened as we’d been looking for ages and I’d fallen in love with this place” says Charlotte. “Then I heard about WashPod and I was so relieved, particularly when the landlord gave his full backing so long as everything was made good when we leave”.

WashPod temporary disabled wetrooms don’t require any major adaptations and while they are plugged into the water and waste services, this takes no time to prepare and make good at the end of the period.

The family was forced to move as space was at a premium and Joshua, who uses a wheelchair, needed more room. They are renting for the next couple of years while they plan to build a new home for themselves.

“I’ve been very impressed with how quickly the whole process took as I only got the keys 10 days ago and it’s already installed” says Charlotte.

The property was spacious enough for the Compact WashPod to go in a downstairs room but a double garage with an adjoining lobby made the most sense and it was erected in just half a day, ready for Joshua to use from the moment they move in.

“I can relax now which is a great feeling” adds Charlotte.

An external Compact WashPod was key in helping to reunite a mum with her family for her first Christmas at home in several years.Three years ago, Kate needed surgery to repair a hernia but subsequent unforeseen complications left her completely paralysed on her left side and confined to a wheelchair. A rare series of events has left her with a stroke-like condition.Kate’s family home was totally unsuitable and inaccessible so after she had spent 12 months in hospital she had to be discharged to a rehab facility rather than return to her partner, Mike, and young son.It has taken a further two years involving clinical negligence litigation to allow a new house to be found that is suitable for adaptations, a through-lift and carers. The WashPod modular disabled wetroom has been chosen to provide an interim washing solution that will allow Kate home for Christmas.Mike is thrilled. “She’s desperate to get home and get on with her life” he says. “This is described as a Never Event as it should never have happened but it has. Kate has taken it very well and our WashPod provides her with a great space to wash, clean her teeth and feel good”.The External Compact WashPod was installed in just a day. “The WashPod team even stayed into the night to get it done in a day for us. They did a fantastic job” says Mike.Once the adaptations to the house are done, the WashPod can be removed as quickly and easily leaving them able to enjoy 2022 as a family unit again.

When his father fell and fractured his pelvis, Peter realised he had to accelerate his plans to adapt his home and provide his father with somewhere safe to recover. A Compact WashPod internal disabled wetroom seemed to offer the best and fastest solution.Peter was certain that he would find several solutions on the web but in the end found only one which suited the urgency of the situation.“Installing a WashPod proved astonishingly fast. The WashPod is comfortable and so well designed that I don’t believe we will now have to adapt the house at all which makes life much easier”. The WashPod was installed in a study room in just one day.Peter’s father (78) is recovering well – “he’s as strong as an ox” – but now has a suitable home in which to get better and, with a history of falls developing, Peter is reassured that everything is in place for the future.“This is an A* product and the WashPod team were superb. I have nothing but positive words. They went the extra mile and adapted their programme to suit my needs. Always enthusiastic and delightful from start to finish” concludes Peter.The Compact WashPod is one of the smallest in the range of rentable, plug ‘n play, temporary disabled wetrooms and is the answer for many people needing at-home disabled bathing where space is at a premium but extra room for carers, hoists and trollies may not be needed.

During the Christmas lockdown, we installed five temporary WashPod accessible wetroom units for the NHS in Essex to assist in their preparations for the winter period. The joined-up strategy made space for more critical care beds in one hospital by transferring some services for older people to another – hence the immediate, but temporary, need for WashPod to provide disabled washing facilities in new ward areas for the incoming patients.

The WashPod disabled wetrooms were built off-site in the factory and then reassembled on-site in as little as a week for all 5 units for minimum disruption to the smooth hospital running.

An internal WashPod mobile, disabled wetroom has provided the answer to Taahira and Hammad’s dilemma. They have been caring for Hammad’s elderly mother, Anisa, for several years who has very bad osteoarthritis and is very immobile. She’s been bed-bound upstairs but has had a wetroom, hoist and carers visiting to help.

But Taahira has been increasingly concerned about her mother-in-law’s isolation stuck upstairs. When paramedics advised them, during a bad case of pneumonia, that they would be unable to resuscitate Anisa if she remained upstairs, she and her husband took the decision to apply for planning permission to extend the family home to house her downstairs.

The family is having to move out during the building works but finding a rental property with a wetroom was proving impossible. Since Covid 19 they were not prepared to use a care home for the duration either.

“I was very surprised and excited to find a disabled bathroom that would fit and be built internally” said Taahira. “WashPod’s plug ‘n play format meant that we just needed to find an ordinary rental property, closer to home so that Anisa’s carers could still come and in the same borough so the council would move all her medical equipment and hospital bed. There’s much less disruption for all of us and neither will there be any alterations to make good for the landlord.”

The family can now relocate for the duration of the building works and are happy to be able to stay together.

WASHPOD HELPS ELDERLY PARKINSON’S SUFFERER STAY AT HOME

WashPod has helped John to stay at home a little bit longer. John is an elderly man who is living with a form of Parkinson’s Disease which has left him fragile and immobile. Patricia, his wife, is trying to make the best decisions on the most appropriate care for him as he is adamant that he doesn’t want to go into a care home of any sort.

“From John’s point of view, it is simply the most horrible thought of going somewhere unfamiliar” says Patricia.

Their discovery of WashPod (the mobile, disabled, wheelchair-accessible wet-room which has been erected in just two days in a spare room downstairs) will allow John to stay at home indefinitely which has given him real reassurance.

The internal Standard WashPod was the answer. “Certainly WashPod has lived up to our expectations and has made a big difference to John’s wellbeing. I think it’s fantastic and we’ve invited all our friends and family to see it” says Patricia “I know quite a few people who might benefit from something similar before too long” she adds.In an unusual turn of events, the couple moved out of an apartment in a retirement village into the modern 5 bedroom house in a village outside Newbury when it became clear that John needed a full-time, professional carer. “There wasn’t a spare room for the carer and we were on the second floor which made accessibility difficult” says Patricia.

One solution was to convert the garage into a suitable wet-room but this had to be abandoned when their builder let them down just before Christmas and they needed a more rapid solution.

WHEELCHAIR USER IN LEICESTERSHIRE  BENEFITS FROM WASHPOD IN RENTAL ACCOMMODATION TO THE DELIGHT OF THE OT

Eleanor Hales, Occupational Therapist at Sherwood Therapy Services, oversaw the project. “We’re all thrilled because in only three weeks from finding the property and getting the go-ahead the Compact WashPod was installed. It is a perfect solution as it means that we didn’t have to wait for costly adaptations. Neither will we have to make good at the end of the rental period – so a double saving”.

The Compact WashPod is one of the smallest in the range and was assembled off-site, before being installed in under a day in a spare bedroom at the property. It is a unique solution to bathing and has been specially designed for limited spaces, fitting internally into a reception room or bedroom. It’s quick to install with a potential lead time of only 10 days and can be fitted in less than a day. It will be the answer for many people needing at-home, disabled bathing where space is at a premium and where extra room for carers, hoists and trollies may not be needed.

WASHPOD ‘IS A LIFE CHANGER’ FOR SHEFFIELD MUM

Jessica, a mother from Sheffield, has called her new WashPod disabled wetroom, ‘a life changer’ for her and her little daughter, Isabella. The internal Standard WashPod was installed into the family’s garage in just a day recently, but it will allow them to stay in their rental home just as long as they want while they build a new home that’s adapted to Isabella’s growing needs.

Isabella is now 5 years old but severely brain-damaged, blind and has cerebral palsy. She has been non-mobile from birth, relies on a wheelchair and care for all her needs.

“It had come to the point when carrying her up and downstairs was beginning to get dangerous so something had to change” says Jessica. “I heard about WashPod from another family and was able to get funding for it which means that we can keep Isabella on the ground floor which is safer and more manageable”.

“The property is a rental and doesn’t belong to me so having the WashPod is fantastic as it fits in the garage and we don’t need to change the property” continues Jessica. “I would definitely recommend it as a safe way to shower and perfect for disabled people who can’t get upstairs”.

The plan is to keep WashPod for a couple of years so that they can get their house built in a sensible, comfortable timeframe.

Having spent 4½ months in hospital, 21 year old Luke wanted nothing more than to go home but the house had no accessible bathroom facilities. WashPod, the unique mobile, disabled wetroom, provided a rapid and dignified solution.

In early 2019, Luke was hit by a car when he was crossing the road and was seriously injured. He currently needs a wheelchair which made coming back to the family home difficult. For his mother, Annette, the options offered to her were totally unsuitable.

“Luke was trying to come to terms with his situation and the last thing he needed was to come home and have no suitable bathroom facilities” says Annette.

She discovered the WashPod from Dignity Access online and was thrilled.

“I am so pleased with our WashPod as it’s given Luke so much independence and dignity at a difficult time which has been crucial. It’s been of huge benefit to him and allowed him home without disruptive adaptations ” continues Annette.

It was a rapid installation as there was a WashPod that was becoming available and within two weeks from the first phone call, it was connected to Luke’s downstairs bedroom with a lobby for total privacy and comfort. In this instance, the unit was craned into position but both internal and external units can also be constructed from a flat-pack form and transported through the house or narrower side gates.

A middle-aged, bariatric woman, who is severely disabled and wheelchair bound, used the WashPod to make a rental property suitable for her needs. She wanted to trial her ability to live reasonably independently in a home of her own, despite the need for full-time carers. The trial continues to go well and it is hoped that soon she will find a property of her own to adapt and live in permanently.

At this two-storey maisonette, there is a small back yard where a Large External WashPod unit has been installed. It serves a nine year old girl and offers a wheelchair accessible wet room and a therapy room for treatments as well. In this instance, the cost of the family relocating to a more suitable home are currently prohibited. The unit continues to be of great benefit to her, her carers and family.

A WashPod unit was installed for an elderly, disabled woman who wanted to stay in her own home with her husband. The WashPod was rented for some months and allowed the couple the time to build a new house that was fully accessible and designed to meet her needs. Husband and wife have been able to move to their new home together and WashPod helped them stay together during this difficult time. Although this unit was craned into position, the WashPod design is modular and can be carried in parts through the house if accessibility is an issue.

WashPod suited the needs of this very disabled young lady who has Cerebral Palsy and needs good temperature regulation. She has to be trolley washed with two carers and the property is a rental where, understandably, it’s more difficult to make major adaptions to the building structure.

A local contractor assisted with the construction of a temporary lobby so that the user can be easily transferred in comfortable temperature conditions between the house and the WashPod.

A middle aged man who had been injured in a work-related accident and was wheelchair bound, was able to use the WashPod unit as part of his interim care provision between hospital and finding a new, more suitably adapted home. It allowed him to leave hospital quicker and return to his family and home to start his rehabilitation.

It was a small house and a housing estate with extremely difficult access to the garden, so the components of the WashPod were transported through the house and erected directly in place.

A bedroom could be made for him downstairs but without suitable washing facilities, he would not have been allowed home. A shell lobby was constructed, quickly and easy for the number of months that the WashPod was needed.

This was a rental property of a family with a child who has Cerebral Palsy. The landlord was reluctant to allow any structural changes to the property but WashPod provided the answer.

The WashPod was installed in the back garden but because there was no access, the WashPod unit was carried through the house and erected directly in place.