Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 22 Jun 1999

Vol. 506 No. 5

Adjournment Debate. - Water Supply Contamination.

Mrs. Owen

The contamination of the water supply on the campus of St. Ita's Hospital, Portrane, is extremely worrying, and the Minister for Health and Children must take full responsibility for this near catastrophe. I ask him to clarify exactly how this contamination occurred, if it was caused by sewage or farm effluent, whether this has happened before at St. Ita's and what steps he proposes to take to ensure the purity of the water supply in St. Ita's.

There are approximately 550 very vulnerable residents and patients plus about the same number of staff who, since last Friday, 18 June, have had to make do with tankers of cold water supplied by Fingal County Council. Hot water is not available for baths, laundry or general hygiene use unless the water is boiled. Nurses and care staff must haul water up and down stairs – in one instance, a three storey building. I understand that it may be at least another four or five days before the problem is rectified. All the water tanks, 25 in all, have to be emptied and sterilised and as yet the source of contamination has not been found. The central heating had to be switched off and no alternative has been provided.

I call on the Minister to request the assistance of the Army to help haul the water around the hospital and to set up a temporary system to provide hot water and heating. There are many elderly doubly incontinent patients and they can only be cared for using either cold water or medical wipes. I do not have to be any more graphic, particularly with the Minister of State, Deputy Moffatt, given his profession, to portray how appallingly difficult it is for staff to look after these patients without running hot water and in cold unheated wards. Why can the work not be completed more quickly? Surely contractors can be hired, if local staff are not available, so the work may be finished. Will the Minister give an assurance that he will provide all the necessary resources to expedite the work to restore the water?

I understand that over the years concerns about the level of maintenance have been expressed by staff and by the St. Joseph's Association for the Mentally Handicapped. Apparently, as maintenance staff reach retirement age, the Eastern Health Board has not been replacing them. Could this policy have anything to do with the current contamination whereby there was insufficient staff to keep close scrutiny on the water tanks, pipes, etc.? It has been stated by the EHB that it was regular routine testing which showed the e.coli contamination. I heard locally that is not the case but that a member of staff reported the matter to the health board when some patients became sick. It may also be the case that the e.coli strain is not the highly dangerous version but I point out that the patients in St. Ita's are very vulnerable, many, as I said, are doubly incontinent and many who have been there for years are elderly and their resistance to infection may well be lower as a result. A number of the staff live on the campus and their quarters are also without water and heat.

Over the years the staff in St. Ita's have done a tremendous job in very difficult circumstances. During this emergency they are working night and day to minimise the inconvenience and discomfort being caused. I would like the Minister to join me in commending the staff and to assure me that the problem will be solved quickly and that any additional overtime payments required will be sanctioned by the Minister. I also want a commitment from the Minister that the investment now being put into the facilities and services in the complex, both for mentally handicapped and psychiatric patients, which is very welcome, will be continued until all the facilities are brought up to today's modern standards.

So far it would appear people have not become ill as a result of this contamination but they may still succumb to illnesses in the coming days. We could have been faced with a major catastrophe if the contamination had been of a different strain but, thankfully, we were not. The Minister has been warned by this very close call and it is his responsibility to ensure this does not happen again.

Dr. Moffatt

Arising from information received by Fingal County Council that there were indications of slight traces of lead in the water used in the farmyard area of St. Ita's Hospital, Portrane, the environmental health department of Fingal County Council carried out sampling of the water in the farmyard area on 1 June 1999.

On 14 June results revealed that water contamination did not exist except for some slight coliform content in the water. On 15 June further water samples were taken from a number of locations on the hospital campus which indicated faecal contamination in one area of the hospital. The results of the tests were available late in the evening of 16 June. A third phase of water sampling took place very early in the morning of 17 June. Initial readings in respect of these samples became available in the afternoon of 18 June which indicated significant presumptive e.coli contamination of water in one area of the hospital campus. Immediately the contamination came to the notice of hospital management on the 17 June, an urgent notice was issued that water was not to be used for drinking purposes unless previously boiled.

Following a meeting on Friday evening, 18 June between representatives of the environmental health department, Fingal County Council, hospital staff and Eastern Health Board management, it was decided to shut down the water supply to the hospital to prevent any possibility of ill-health to patients or staff. The chief nursing officers of both the learning disabilities and mental health services of the hospital met representatives of all service areas in the hospital later on Friday evening and it was agreed that the water was not to be used for any purpose and that bottled water was available from the hospital stores.

On Saturday morning, l9 June, Fingal County Council supplied the hospital with water tanks in ten different locations around the hospital campus. The hospital stores department also remained open throughout the weekend and bottled water was supplied for drinking and making tea and coffee.

On Sunday, 20 June, representatives of the environmental health department, Fingal County Council and hospital management outlined to staff the procedures that were to be implemented to tackle the water contamination. The main hospital water reservoir in the water tower was being cleaned along with all water storage tanks throughout the hospital. The entire water supply system would then be super chlorinated, tested and, if deemed satisfactory, the supply to the hospital would be restored. This has been an unprecedented occurrence and the Eastern Health Board has acted very swiftly to ensure that patients, staff and visitors to the hospital were not exposed to any risk as a result of the contaminated water supply.

I am now informed that the hospital water tower has been cleaned and there are several teams working on cleaning the tanks throughout the hospital area. All patients are well and have suffered no ill-health effects due to the water contamination. Medical, nursing and management staff have combined to address this serious incident and additional staff have been brought into the hospital as required.

Hospital management expect that normal water supplies to the hospital will be resumed by the coming weekend following a comprehensive cleaning and disinfecting of the hospital water supply system. The source of the contamination is currently being actively investigated by the board's environmental health department.