Patient doused in raw sewage at hospital

The Southern Trust has apologised for what they described as a ‘distressing incident’.

The spillage came as refurbishment work nears completion at the hospital, ironically to replace a sewage system that has seen a number of leaks in recent years

A Southern Trust spokesperson said: “There was a recent incident involving a leak from a pipe in the ceiling above a bedroom in a ward at Craigavon Area Hospital.

“The patient in the bedroom was immediately relocated to another room and every effort was made to support the patient following this distressing incident.

“Specialist contractors were called in immediately to fix the problem and a very thorough clean-up was carried out by specialist cleaning contractors. Trust domestic teams also completed a full terminal clean of the areas affected.”

Esther Gishkori, Southern Trust Director of Acute Services apologised to the patient saying: “I am very sorry for the distress caused to the patient and their family by this incident.

“We have recently replaced many of the old pipe fittings in the hospital with new fittings - this incident was caused by a blockage of the old sewage pipework scheduled for replacement in the coming weeks.

“It is planned that all the sewage pipes in the main hospital block will have been replaced by 31st March.”

Local SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly said: “A patient going into hospital does not expect to get sprayed by raw sewage.

“I welcome a commitment to update the pipes, but it is a pity we have got to this point. The Health Minister has some questions to answer with regards to the infrastructure of the hospital.”