00:00Our reporter Megan Shaw is live at the hospital now.
00:03Now, this has been going on for a week now. What's the update?
00:08Of course, Chloe. So as you mentioned there, Downton Valley Hospital have declared this a critical incident.
00:14As you can see, I'm outside here in Dartford and that's because water supply issues have now lasted for their
00:20seventh day in a row.
00:22Of course, this has caused disturbance, disruption and upset to patients, staff and visitors alike at the hospital
00:29with Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust sincerely apologising to those who have been affected.
00:34What this means is that for a week now, some parts of the hospital haven't had water for drinking or
00:41washing
00:41due to an issue that might have compromised the water quality of the water supply.
00:46But we don't really know all that much more than that, including details about the time frame of when that
00:51water might be back on.
00:53We do know that the hospital does remain open and fully operational for the time being.
00:57Mm-hmm. And take us back to what's happened over those past seven days.
01:06Of course. So issues first started on the 29th of April.
01:10Chloe, on the west block of the hospital, that's roughly half of the site, which gives you a sense of
01:15the scale of the problem here.
01:17And there's been no running water available for drinking since then.
01:21Of course, bottled water has been distributed, but there have also been reports of poor working conditions for hospital staff,
01:28such as staff having to clean patients with wet wipes, which you mentioned there, Chloe, a lack of clean crockery,
01:34and of course the difficulties that come with trying to run a hospital and yet not having water in some
01:38parts of it.
01:39One patient who discharged herself commented online that nurses in Linden Ward were under immense pressure and it broke her
01:46heart to watch them struggle.
01:48Although she praised the quality of the care that she received, she noted that the nurses and staff are working
01:54in what she described as horrendous conditions.
01:57Now, Chloe, although the issues in the west block that compromised that possible water have since been fixed,
02:02the taps still aren't able to be turned on until the water supply has been thoroughly tested.
02:08So as for when we're asking questions about when things are back to normal,
02:12we can't quite give a conclusive answer because the results of these testing aren't expected until the 9th of May,
02:18the very earliest.
02:20And a spokesperson for Darroch Valley Hospital said that we're working closely with the specialist partners responsible
02:26for the hospital's infrastructure to complete this process as quickly as possible.
02:31On the other side of the coin, I spoke to the MP for Dartford earlier,
02:35as he's been quite vocal about representing his constituents during this time.
02:40Well, I'm making the point to the hospital that this needs to be resolved safely,
02:44but it needs to be resolved as soon as possible.
02:47Local residents who either have loved ones in the hospital or are in the hospital themselves
02:52are clearly very concerned.
02:54I'm very clear with the hospital that they mustn't compromise patient safety.
02:59I've asked that they work with the Integrated Care Board for Kent and Medway
03:04and the Department for Health and Social Care
03:06to make sure they've got all the resources that they need in the hospital
03:10to manage this situation and make sure patients are still getting good care
03:14and that their safety isn't being compromised.
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