Gangtok, January 7, 2013

Water supply to the labour room of the maternity ward in STNM hospital year went dry abruptly for a whole day on January 5 leaving the patients and hospital staff helpless.

“There was not a single drop of water in the gynecology ward and the situation was unimaginable. We could not give bath to new born babies as there was no water supply”, said a staff member.

Three babies were delivered at the STNM labour room on January 5.

It was informed that the tap in the labour toom went dry since morning hours. Water supply to other wings of the hospital by the Public Health Engineering department was not affected.

“Water is very essential in the labour room as the baby and the mother needs frequent cleaning. I had to leave back my stained clothes in the bathroom unwashed as no water was available for washing”, said a staff.

Bathrooms in the labour room could not be used even during despate situations due to lack of water.

“My sister had a delivery in the afternoon and I had to bring water from the nearby orthopedic department to clean the clothes”, said a relative.

It was further informed that electricity supply for the ward is very irregularly and there is a direct need to improve its infrastructure including the beds. Many times we had to perform delivery with torch lights due irregular power supply, said a nurse in the maternity ward.

When contacted, STNM medical superintendent Dr Yogesh Verma said water supply was resumed to the maternity ward late night. “The tank went dry and we were informed that water supply resumed at 11 pm”, he said.

When contacted the Medical Superintendent of the hospital, he said that the matter has been resolved now and the water supply was resumed late night.

However, PHE chief engineer TB Gurung said all the water supply pipes were in fine condition on January 5.

Sikkim Express

 

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