Date: 8 August 2012
Contact:
Emmanuel Ndlovu
Programmes
and Advocacy Manager
Bulawayo
Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)
BULAWAYO Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) is
concerned that the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) and the Mpilo Hospital
Management are putting the lives of residents at risk by failing to work hand
in hand to ensure that the hospital has clean running water all the time. This
follows reports that Mpilo Hospital closed its operating theatre after going
for two days without water following a water pipe burst in the Mzilikazi and
Barbourfields area. As a result, patients who were meant to undergo surgery
were rescheduled to next week, with charges for continued stay at the hospital
also billed on them, something that BPRA sees as unfair to the patients.
BPRA believes that this occurrence is a result of neglect
of duty by both BCC and Mpilo Hospital. The association is dismayed that a
health institution as big as Mpilo Hospital can go for two days without water
with management not taking any measures to solve the problem. The association
is equally appalled that a hospital can go for two days without water with BCC not
making concerted efforts to correct the problem. BPRA asserts that the argument
by the local authority that the fault was not reported on time is neither here
nor there as the two institutions, BCC and Mpilo should have entered into a partnership long ago to ensure that there is
always running water at the hospital, and a back-up plan in the event of an
emergency. With such an agreement, modalities would have been put in place to ensure
that water disruptions at the institution are reported timely and corrective
measures taken expediently. Such an agreement would be beneficial to both
institutions as Mpilo needs water to function properly while BCC is mandated by
the law to provide clean water services in Bulawayo.
I
t is also BPRA’s contention that BCC and other
service providers such as the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA)
should have partnerships or arrangements with critical institutions such as
hospitals that cannot function effectively without their services. Such
partnerships would be key to ensuring that normal operations at critical
institutions are never disrupted as this sometimes means loss of life. As
things stand, there is a possibility that a life that could have been saved by
surgery will ultimately be lost due to the postponement of the surgery following
temporary closure of Mpilo Hospital’s theatre.
Regards
................................................
Mr Emmanuel Ndlovu
Programmes and Advocacy Manager
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