Waters woes, Mpilo Hospital theatre closes

MPILO Central Hospital's operating theatre has been shut down after the institution went for nearly two days without water as pipe bursts due to water shedding begin taking their toll in Bulawayo.

The hospital is one of the country's major health referral centres, catering mainly for patients in Bulawayo, parts of Midlands, Masvingo, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South.

The surrounding suburbs of Mzilikazi and Barbourfields also spent three days without supplies following a pipe burst in Mzilikazi on Friday.

Scores of patients awaiting surgery have been rescheduled for next week as water began trickling from taps yesterday afternoon.

Relatives of the patients have complained, saying the hospital still expected them to pay for the extra days that they would be hospitalised. A number of people also brought water in containers to bath their relatives admitted to the hospital.

When a Chronicle news crew visited the hospital yesterday morning, nurses in uniform were fetching water in containers at the only borehole that is functioning at the hospital, next to the National Identity Card registration office.

Officials who declined to be named said the theatre was immediately closed on Monday when authorities discovered there was no water.

They said council did not send water bowsers as  promised in case of pipe bursts.

"There was no water when we arrived for work on Monday. It was announced that patients who had not eaten in the last 12 hours because they had been booked for surgery, should be returned to the wards as the theatre had been shut down.

"Even emergency cases that are normally attended to after 1pm were suspended. Surgery cannot be performed without clean running water," said the official.

Another official said a hospital as big as Mpilo could not afford to go for even 30 minutes without water.

"The impact was immediately felt at the labour wards where plenty of running water is needed to maintain hygiene. For a hospital like Mpilo, if there is no water for even 30 minutes, we could be talking of a major health disaster because all kinds of diseases are treated here and we need to adhere to a very strict conduct for hygiene to prevent the spread of diseases," said the official.

The official said specialist doctors carried out operations on fixed days and if patients missed an appointment, they would have to be rescheduled for the following week.

A woman, whose relative was supposed to undergo surgery on Monday, said she had been told by nurses that the patient would have to remain in hospital until Monday.

"They said we would continue being billed for her stay and I think it is unfair. It is not our fault that there was no water. We should at least split the bill with the hospital," said the woman.

Mpilo Central Hospital chief executive officer, Dr Wedu Ndebele, could not be reached for comment as his mobile phone rang without being answered.

However, an official said operations might resume today after authorities assessed the situation.
Contacted for comment, the Bulawayo City Council's senior public relations officer, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu, confirmed that there had been no water at the hospital.

"A pipe burst in Mzilikazi on Friday and residents did not make a report. We could not send bowsers because we were not aware of the burst. We responded quickly when we heard about the leaking water. We encourage residents to report burst pipes without delay so that we minimise loss of treated water and reduce the time residents spend without supplies," said Mrs Mpofu.

She said 41 pipe bursts had been reported in the city since water shedding began two weeks ago.

Mrs Mpofu said the suburbs of Richmond, North End, Kumalo, Morningside and Montrose were among those that experienced disruptions of supplies outside the shedding schedule, due to pipe bursts.