Mpilo hospital student nurses use fire fighting hoses bath in the open

Bulawayo

Both male and female student nurses at Mpilo Central Hospital are allegedly taking turns to bath in the open every morning amid revelations that the institution has insufficient ablution facilities.

It has also emerged that those who bath inside their residences use water drawn from firefighting hosepipes that are fitted in the school of radiography which is housing them as a result of a critical shortage of accommodation at one of the biggest Government-owned health institutions.

Students, who spoke to the Sunday News, said they had adopted a culture of waking up early in the morning to fill buckets with water and hastily take a bath outside the school of radiography.

“We are taking turns to bath outside. There is only one tub that is supposed to be used by almost 15 people. At times we use water drawn from the firefighting hosepipe in the hostel. We finally decided that we take turns to bath outside after we realised that most of us were not going to bath if we are to wait for each other,’’ said a first year student who resides at the school of radiography.

Authorities at the hospital confirmed the shortage of accommodation at the institution but professed ignorance on reports that student nurses were taking turns to bath in the open.

Responding to faxed questions from the Sunday News, the hospital’s acting chief executive officer, Dr Wedu Ndebele, said the hospital had of late been facing challenges of accommodation as a result of an increase in the number of students admitted for nurse training.

She said despite the increase there had not been a new student residence built to accommodate the growing number of students, resulting in the institution housing some of the students in crowded hostels and places not meant for residence.

“In recent years we have had an increase in the number of students admitted for nurse training as a national policy. Despite this increase there has not been a new student residence built. As a result students are now accommodated in crowded hostels and places not meant for residence. For example some of our students are being accommodated at married quarters for general hands and at the school of radiography block, which is not a residential place after all.
“We therefore need a new block of student hostels as we speak,” said Dr Ndebele.

Although she could not confirm reports that student nurses were bathing in the open, she said there were 15 students at the school of radiography who were sharing the available ablutions facilities.

She added that both the school of radiography and the nurses’ home were in a state of disrepair with blocked toilets and a drainage system problem which was being attended to.

Students, who spoke to this paper on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, however, said some of the authorities were aware that they were taking a bath outside the school of radiography, adding that sometimes the drainage system would be blocked.

“I think they are aware because each time we bath there are visible signs that remain. They do not necessarily need to see us because we bath very early since we do not want to be seen by passersby. Our only worry is that these days it is cold and we use cold water to bath. I really think the authorities need to do something urgently to rectify the problems dogging the health institution,” said one student.