Eye surgeries to be offered in Hinterland regions

The National Ophthalmology Hospital at Port Maurant has come a long way in recent years, clearing all surgical backlogs and is now looking to take eye surgeries to the Hinterland regions.

Ophthalmologist and Doctor in charge of the hospital, Dr Saif Alli, recently spoke with the Department of Public Information (DPI).

He highlighted all of the positive changes that have been made at the hospital.

Over the years, medical teams would visit other regions to screen patients, and once they are identified as needing surgeries, they are transported to the hospital at Port Maurant to conduct those surgeries.

However, this will soon change.

“Instead of getting the hinterland patients to come to our institution, we are planning surgical outreaches which will start in October, where we go out there and do the surgery right there,” Dr Alli stated

These outreaches will start with Regions Eight and Nine followed by the other Hinterland regions.

This will eradicate the need for patients to travel to Berbice.

Additionally, under the previous administration, the hospital had stopped doing eye surgeries.

However, the hospital underwent major upgrades and surgeries were reintroduced.

“When the hospital was closed off, they were having no surgery. We had a lot of backlog with cataract surgery and other surgeries. At the moment, we don’t have a waiting list for cataract surgery or any other surgery. You can come in today and get the surgery tomorrow. We came a far way to get where we are at this moment,” he stated.

Also, patients who visit the hospital can have a complete eye examination. With the use of new technologies, issues can be detected earlier.

“This year, we started doing the OCT which is an examination of the back of the eyes, because before that we had to send the patient to private facilities”, he noted.

He said, “We can scan patients with diabetes and pick up early changes before they have damage at the back of their eyes”.

The hospital also offers patients laser treatment and the intravitreal injections.

The hospital sees approximately 90 patients per day for various services and also does emergency surgeries.

He said diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma are major concerns as there is a growing number of patients with those diseases.

Annual eye examinations are also recommended, especially after the age of 40, especially for glaucoma, which does irreversible damage to the eyes, but early detection can prevent blindness.

The work this hospital is doing forms part of the government’s broader effort to create a healthier society in which its citizens can access modern and world-class medical care.