Queens runs dry

Patients and guardians at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), popularly known as Queens, were left scrambling for water to drink, bathe and maintain basic hygiene on Friday as temperatures in Blantyre soared to around 35°C.

The facility’s dry taps are a result of a supply disruption caused by vandals on Blantyre Water Board (BWB) pipelines.

Health sciences students set out to look for water. | Edwin Nyirongo

The shortage forced QECH, the country’s largest referral hospital, to suspend some activities, leaving patients, guardians and health workers struggling to cope with the heat and the absence of water for essential needs.

In a statement issued Thursday evening, BWB said a valve, located in a pipeline interconnection chamber in Chileka had been vandalised forcing it to reduce pumping capacity at Walker’s Ferry to 50 percent, to minimise water loss through the damaged section.

But the reduced pumping capacity was not enough to keep water flowing at QECH, where Director General Professor Patrick Kamalo confirmed that the hospital had run out of water.

He said the hospital had suspended some activities that require water.

The disruption raised concerns about patients’ care at the facility that receives referrals from across the Southern Region, with some patients reportedly turned away while others struggled to meet basic hygiene needs.

When Weekend Nation visited the facility, one of the nurses said their work depended on water, while another claimed that some patients, whose conditions required water, had been turned away.

“There is nothing we can do without water, and patients whose conditions require water have been turned away,” one of the nurses said.

For patients and their guardians, the shortage meant more than the inconvenience of finding drinking water. The soaring temperatures made bathing and washing particularly important, while the lack of water complicated the care of patients who needed cleaning and assistance with medication.

Lucia Jasi from Chilobwe Township in Blantyre, who had accompanied her daughter after she gave birth, said nurses had instructed her to fetch water from home.

“I am lucky because we have a borehole where I could draw water. But there are those from districts such as Phalombe or Mulanje who could not go to their homes to collect water,” she said.

Another guardian, Maureen Kagona, who was caring for her sister, said they had not bathed because of the water shortage.

“What is making things worse here is that it is hot out there and we need water to bathe and drink. I am told we can access some near Kudya in Zingwangwa. That is where I am going,” she said.

The water shortage also affected health sciences students assisting at the hospital. One of the students said she had struggled to concentrate on her work while searching for drinking water.

“It is tough today because you cannot even find water to drink. So we are just following wherever one returns with water,” said the student, who asked not to be named.

She doubted whether she would undertake any further duties after spending time looking for water.

BWB spokesperson Evelyn Khonje said in a telephone interview that QECH was among institutions that should receive priority when water supply is disrupted.

“There are places or institutions we ‘call priority areas’ and QECH is one of them. There should be water because that is a referral hospital. But if you say there is no water, I need to check,” she said.

Health activist George Jobe said the shortage was worrying because water was essential for hospital operations, patients’ care and hygiene, particularly during hot weather.

He said the hospital should have contingency arrangements, including water bowsers, to maintain supplies when the main system fails.

“In times of water problems, there should be bowsers ready to supply water. This is because water is the core part of the work at the hospital,” he said.

Jobe also called for a long-term solution, arguing that QECH needed adequate storage capacity to withstand interruptions to the city’s water supply.

“Blantyre is known for having problems with proper water supply. There is need for the referral hospital to have reservoirs such as big tanks that can keep water for, say, two weeks,” he said.

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