Ophthalmology capacity at regional hospitals to be revamped

Resources and investments will be made across regional hospitals in the country, allowing for ophthalmology services to be offered to the population.
Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony disclosed on Monday that within the past two years, work has been ongoing to rehabilitate theatres and install equipment necessary for eye surgeries at the Port Mourant Hospital.
“We offer our referral eye services at the Georgetown Public Hospital but we have also been working on restoring the infrastructure and restarting surgical procedures at the Port Mourant Ophthalmology Centre…We have been able to restart some amount of surgical procedures at the hospital. We’re hoping with the increase in investment and restoring some of the equipment and so forth, that we’ll be able to offer a wider range of services at Port Mourant.”
The wider aim is to address the need for such eyecare services at all regional hospitals, through investments in resources.
“In addition, we are looking at regional hospitals where we can improve the ophthalmology services that we offer and to make sure that at principal regional hospitals, there is some level of ophthalmology service,” Dr Anthony underscored.
The Ministry has been collaborating with John Hopkins University, identifying how the techniques, technology, and apparatus used can be brought here. Interest has been shown for a specific device that can conduct eye tests at a faster rate during outreaches.
“They have piloted snap-on spectacles or lens and this is a very simple technology to use but it can have a great impact. You go into a community, you’re able to test everyone’s eyes very quickly and based on the results of those tests, you can give them a spectacle.”
This programme will be piloted this year, commencing in remote areas where residents do not have much access to such services. If successful, it will be replicated in other areas.
“We’ve also been expanding our services as it regards to checking the retina. With diabetic patients, it is a requirement as part of the management protocol to check the retina of the eye periodically. This has been a challenge because there are few places that would offer those checks. We’re now expanding that service,” the Minister added.