Surgeries put on hold as water shortage hits KNH

The country’s largest referral hospital was Thursday hit by a water shortage that halted vital services like surgeries.

According to a source at the Kenyatta National Hospital — who cannot be named because she is not authorised to speak to the media — only emergency surgeries were being performed.

All others were rescheduled.

“Patients are disappointed but there is very little we can do because water is an essential commodity for us to run surgeries and other procedures,” she told the Nation in an interview.

The shortage affected close to 2,000 patients after the hospital’s reservoir dried up.

“Patients (waiting for surgeries) will have to pay for the extra days there was no water at the hospital yet this could have been solved by planning ahead,” the source said.

Saline, an expensive disinfectant, was used for scrubbing during the emergency surgeries as there was no water.

Some patients told the Nation team they had asked relatives to deliver water to them.

However, the hospital’s corporate affairs and communications manager, Mr Simon Ithai, denied that key operations had been grounded. He said the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company supplied the hospital with four tanks each with a capacity of 15,000 litres.

“Essential services like the theatres were operational. Only five out of the 24 did not have water,” Mr Ithai said.

He also said the hospital’s reservoir did not optimally serve the hospital tower because it also supplies water to the KNH staff quarters.

According to the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company, damage to a key pipe affected normal water supply in various parts of the city. KNH was one of those affected.

The company’s corporate affairs manager, Mr Mbaruku Vyakweli, said the city centre had been without water since last week when the pipe was ruptured by a contractor at a main junction point in Spring Valley. The damaged pipe had since been repaired but the company had to wait four days for the concrete reinforcement to dry before pumping could resume.

Mr Vyakweli said the hospital was supplied with water tanks yesterday because it is ranked as a priority client. According to him, the hospital got four tanks of 15,000 litres each and a fifth with a capacity of 8,000 litres.

“There was a slight damage after the repair thus we had to halt the pumping, resulting in the water shortage,” Mr Vyakweli said.

Among the estates hit by the shortage are: Kawangware, Ngummo, Lavington, Hurlingham, State House Road, Mountain View, Kileleshwa, Loresho, Westlands and Runda. The Nairobi Hospital was also disconnected as has been the University of Nairobi’s Main and Parklands campuses.

Other areas without water are: Nairobi West, Lang’ata, Madaraka, Satellite and Uthiru.

This week, KNH also suffered when a nationwide power blackout affected operations at the hospital’s pay points resulting in long queues.