THE labour ward of Port of Spain General Hospital’s maternity wing was flooded out yesterday.

According to an inside source, when staff reported for duty yesterday morning, the entire ward was flooded out, with water apparently coming from the ceiling.

One of the seven cubicles set aside for women in childbirth was abandoned because of the flood problem, the source said. The flood waters flowed through the general corridor, and also affected the kitchen, pantry and offices in the ward, the source added.

Staff was forced to use the hospital’s linen in an effort to stop the water from spreading. Furniture was also moved around to prevent any damage to them. Plumbers were called in and the rising water eventually subsided around lunchtime, the source said.

’It was quite disturbing, imagine a patient who was scheduled to undergo a C (Caesarean) section had to be pushed through the water. Staff contemplated holding an umbrella over her,’ the source told the Express.

But the source revealed that this sort of leakage has been plaguing the hospital for some time now.

’It is a regular occurrence. Last month it happened also. They only doing patch work. The management is not addressing the problem at the root. It will come up again,’ the source said.

The source said no one in authority tried to appease either the staff or the patients following the incident.

’Everybody want to sweep it under the carpet. No one came to say what is happening,’ the source said.

Several attempts to contact communications manager of the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA), Debbie Ann Bailey, proved unsuccessful yesterday.