06 Aug 2015

Letsholathebe II Memorial hospital management is working round the clock to normalise the water situation after the water test results indicated that water in some wards is contaminated.

This came after the environmental officers from the hospital doing their quarterly water sampling on July 15 where 12 units of water was tested and the results indicated that five units were negative while seven tested positive with faecal streptococcus.

In an interview this week, the hospital public relation officer Mr Tumisang Letsholo said they received the results on Tuesday (August 4) after hours and the management took a decision to engage experts from department of Water Affairs to urgently clean the hospital reservoir.

He said the affected wards include the Paeds medical and surgical, infection control office, male and female surgical wards; female medical and laundry. 

The wards that were not contaminated are male medical; kitchen; postnatal; physio and accident and emergency ward.

Mr Letsholo said immediately after receiving the report, a memo was issued to all the staff to sensitise them about the situation and also to caution the patients against drinking water from the affected wards.

He said the situation was under controlled as the affected wards were supplied with bottled water.

Asked how often the reservoir is cleaned, Mr Letsholo explained that only when they realise there is a problem with the water quality. 

He mentioned some of the disease which could be caused by drinking contaminated water such as diarrhoea and sanitary but stated that at the moment, they had not received any complaint from the patients.

He appealed to the public to be cautious and stop drinking or supplying their patients with water in the affected wards until the situation is normalised.

He said they would make sure tests were done again after the cleaning of the reservoir to ensure quality portable water to the patients. Ends