Balfour hospital ‘sewage’ incident sparks concern

Reports of “sewage” overflowing inside the new Balfour Hospital have been played down by NHS Orkney’s chief executive, who claims that the only plumbing problem he is aware of was a “backed-up” sink.

Anonymous sources have claimed that they witnessed “raw sewage” flowing from a sink, and almost out into the corridor in two of the departments. They have voiced concerns about what they believe with drainage at the new £64 million facility, which opened in June — particularly since a similar incident is also alleged to have recently happened at the Heilendi GP Practice, based inside the new hospital.

“The sink was horrendous,” said one source, of last Tuesday’s incident. “In Outpatients A, it was nearly coming out into the corridor.”

Responding to the reports this week, NHS chief executive Gerry O’Brien said: “There have been no instances of raw sewage flowing into the Balfour Hospital. ”

“Two days ago, one sink in Outpatients backed-up when paper towels blocked a drain. The situation was resolved within 90 minutes by staff, with minimal impact on services.”

Meanwhile, there is still uncertainty as to exactly when Orkney’s decontamination unit and renal unit will be transferred into the new building. Both departments remain working at the site of the old Balfour Hospital.

The health authority has said, this week, that it cannot estimate how long it will take before these units are able to make the transition, as this cannot happen until it has been confirmed that all the new equipment is working properly.