Avenues Clinic returns to normal, following burst water pipe

Everything is back to normal at the Avenues Clinic in Harare, after a burst water pipe on Saturday afternoon on the third floor resulted in water gushing down the stairs during visiting hours.

Avenues Clinic managing director Merissa Kambani said that, although the sight of water flowing down the stairs and through the reception area may have alarmed visitors and patients, patients were never in danger from the flooding.

She said the problem occurred at a point where pipes were joined in the ceiling just outside Ward Three North. One of the ceiling panels collapsed because of the water pressure, resulting in water cascading onto the floor in front of the lifts and down the stairs, flooding the reception area.

Rolled-up linen was laid on the floor to contain the water and prevent it entering wards, while the clinic's plumbers were called in to deal with the problem.

The pipe burst occurred at about 4.30pm. By 5.30pm the flow of water had been stopped, after the stopcock controlling the flow of water to the affected section of the hospital had been turned off.

She denied social media suggestions that the place where the pipe burst had previously been repaired using a bin liner and elastic. She said materials like that had been used to stem the flow of water from the pipe after the burst had occurred.

She said the lifts had been affected, as water had flowed into the lift wells. However, the lift wells had been dried and the lifts are now working again. A carpet in the passage that runs past the nurses' station in Ward Three North, which is the maternity ward, had been replaced, as it had absorbed a lot of water and was damp. The water pipe had been repaired, the lifts were working again and everything was back to normal.

 "None of the patients were affected, other than by the shock of what had happened. Nursing care of patients continued, while efforts were made to contain the situation.

"We have disaster management plans in place for such eventualities. These were properly applied by all staff.

"We have professionals on standby 24 hours a day to deal with such emergencies. These were called in immediately. In the meantime efforts were made to minimise the effects of the water pipe burst.

"Our plant is inspected by the National Social Security Authority when necessary to ensure they comply with safety standards.

"I would like to assure our clients that we have systems in place to manage disasters and these are kept under review. There are lessons we have learnt from this unfortunate incident that will help us ensure that the same thing does not happen again," she said.