'Psychotic' patients left with no running water
Patients in a psychiatric clinic in Lund have been without running water for two days after a nearby fire cut off their supply, leaving many mentally ill patients unable to shower or flush the toilet.
“This is disastrous,” said nurse Corinna Jarfjord to Sydsvenskan newspaper.
“Many of these patients are psychotic, and don’t understand why the water’s not running.”
105 patients are cared for at the Sankt Lars clinic in Lund, southern Sweden, however this task has been no easy feat for the staff over the past two days.
The staff members have been forced to fetch water from a tank nearby so that the patients are able to use the facilities, and no extra nurses have been deployed to help.
According to the paper, the cause of the problem was a fire in a nearby school, where old pipes in the area burst from the increased pressure during the extinguishing of the fire.
Meanwhile, Jarfjord is furious and claims that the water supply should have been fixed a long time ago.
“If this was a major hospital, I am certain it would have been fixed within the hour,” she told the paper.
Nurses are concerned that the lack of water poses other problems too, as some of the patients have been known to set fires in their rooms. While Jarfjord acknowledges the clinic’s fire extinguishers should suffice, she claims it’s impossible to predict the possible damages if a fire begins.
Jarfjord is now threatening to close down the ward sections of the clinic if the pipes are not fixed on Wednesday, as has been promised.
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“This is disastrous,” said nurse Corinna Jarfjord to Sydsvenskan newspaper.
“Many of these patients are psychotic, and don’t understand why the water’s not running.”
105 patients are cared for at the Sankt Lars clinic in Lund, southern Sweden, however this task has been no easy feat for the staff over the past two days.
The staff members have been forced to fetch water from a tank nearby so that the patients are able to use the facilities, and no extra nurses have been deployed to help.
According to the paper, the cause of the problem was a fire in a nearby school, where old pipes in the area burst from the increased pressure during the extinguishing of the fire.
Meanwhile, Jarfjord is furious and claims that the water supply should have been fixed a long time ago.
“If this was a major hospital, I am certain it would have been fixed within the hour,” she told the paper.
Nurses are concerned that the lack of water poses other problems too, as some of the patients have been known to set fires in their rooms. While Jarfjord acknowledges the clinic’s fire extinguishers should suffice, she claims it’s impossible to predict the possible damages if a fire begins.
Jarfjord is now threatening to close down the ward sections of the clinic if the pipes are not fixed on Wednesday, as has been promised.
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