Bowel pump lifting device

The client has to perform a bowel flush using this pump, which has to be accessible to her when sitting on the toilet seat but raised from three to five feet from the floor to provide a head of water in the associated tank before the flush could work. Her husband was finding it increasingly difficult to move the heavy pump.

A “dumb waiter” mechanism was designed within a polished aluminium cover. The pump is placed on a cantilevered platform sliding on stainless steel rods and is raised or lowered by a loop of rope running over a pulley at the top. Its mass is counterbalanced by a lead weight. Interlocks are incorporated to hold the platform in the low position whilst cleaning and there is an adjustable friction brake on the “down” rope.

For the first time the client can carry out the procedure without assistance.