Water-Bug Mistakes Mustn't Be Repeated - Burnham (Eleanor Burnham )

Cymraeg
English

Eleanor Burnham <info@eburnham.org.uk>

Water-Bug Mistakes Mustn't Be Repeated - Burnham

December 5, 2006 12:24 PM

Eleanor Burnham AM today highlighted a string of blunders in the handling of a major Cryptosporidium outbreak in North Wales, which last year left 231 people ill and many hundreds more having to boil their own tap water before drinking it. Her comments were made in response to this afternoon's debate on a report of the outbreak.

Ms Burnham, who addressed public concerns at the start of the outbreak in November last year, drew the Health Minister's attention to some key mistakes made in dealing with the crisis. These worryingly included the fact that NHS Direct were not informed of the outbreak and so could not offer members of the public the correct advice and similarly that GPs ended up prescribing the wrong medication to patients who did not know they had the caught water-bourn Cryptosporidium bug.

Ms Burnham, Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for North Wales, said: "We cannot afford to see the same mistakes made again when a bug like this brings misery to so many people who were simply in their own homes using their own tap water.

"I understand that there is to be a review of the standards for treatment of public drinking supplies following this report, which I welcome. Use of new Ultra-violet light can kill the bug completely and save hundreds from a particularly nasty disease.

"However, I am astounded that NHS direct were not informed of the presence of the bug while the investigations were going on. As a result of mis-diagnosis many people continued to suffer ill effects long after the bug should have left their system.

"Full compensation owed by Dwr Cymru still hasn't been met, when you consider that for months members of the public were having to boil all of their own water before using it and even buying their own bottled supplies. The responsibility lies with the company, despite the fact that they may have followed best practice up until the outbreak.

"Ultimately, we need to ensure that these mistakes are not made again and improve the standards of water treatment at all levels, so that everyone in Wales is protected from outbreaks like this."

Ends/Diwedd