PATIENTS at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo were left stranded at the weekend after the health institution went without water, with the authorities claiming that the shortages were caused by a burst water pipe.
BY LINDA CHINOBVA
Mpilo chief executive officer, Leonard Mabhandi confirmed the incident, but said the crisis had been resolved. “You do not need to be writing about water issues at Mpilo because the issue has been resolved. It was just an issue of burst pipes,” he said.
Patients who spoke to Southern Eye said the situation at the hospital was dire and exposed them to a health hazard.
“We spent the better part of Saturday and Sunday without water at our ward. We had no water to drink, let alone to bath. This is a female’s ward and you can imagine how necessary water is for any woman. What more us who are ailing?” one patient said.
“The toilets were something else and even the atmosphere within the ward was just stuffy. Such situations must be dealt with urgently because lack of water is a threat to our health.”
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Visitors said they had to bring water for their loved ones from home.
“I had to take two litres of water to my niece from home, so that she is able to at least drink and wipe herself because there was no water at the hospital,” a visitor who identified herself as Gamu said.
A senior staffer said the hospital’s general hands were supposed to have fetched water from nearby hospitals to the wards, instead of asking patients to bring their own water from home.
“You also need to understand that the institution owns functional boreholes and when there is no water within the wards, general hand staff are supposed to fetch water for patients and I am shocked that this was not done,” the staffer said.
“We will look into the matter, but we can assure our patients that at no time will the institution be left without a drop of water because we see to it that our boreholes are always functional”