QEH prepared
THE Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is well equipped to treat eye disorders that arise in this country and the wider region.
That’s according to Executive Chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland. In a speech read on her behalf by the hospital’s Communications Specialist, Lyn-Marie Deane, at the 10th Annual Latest Updates in Ophthalmology Subspecialty Conference at the Accra Beach Hotel on Friday, Bynoe-Sutherland said that the Ophthalmology Department of the QEH provides a wide range of services, which are delivered by 12 consultants. She said there are five full-time, seven sessional and one associate consultant from the University of the West Indies.
“The department boasts of being the only comprehensive public eye care facility in the region, with an unparalleled range of services in areas such as vitreoretinal surgery, oculoplastics, glaucoma care, cornea and external eye diseases, comprehensive ophthalmology, neuro-ophthalmology and paediatric ophthalmology. In these sub-specialities, the QEH remains the sole public healthcare provider in the region,” she said.
She went further, noting that the department also boasts the only micro-surgical simulation laboratory for training in the Caribbean and Latin America. She explained that this provides the opportunity for staff to sharpen their hand, eye and foot co-ordination skills in general ophthalmology.
The hospital’s executive chairman made the point while noting that based on international trends, QEH has the human resources to meet the eye care needs of all Barbadians. However, Bynoe-Sutherland said that to further meet the population’s needs for greater access to ophthalmic care, the hospital commissioned the refurbishment of the ophthalmology out-patient clinic. Bynoe-Sutherland indicated that the renovation, which came in at a cost of $6 million, expanded the physical capacity of the eye clinic, which now sees more than 20,000 patients annually, and that number is expected to continue to grow. The head of the hospital made the comments while noting that in 2015, the department saw a record number of patients, 26,161 and performed 1,654 surgeries. She revealed that the majority of those cases, some 80 per cent, were completed on an out-patient basis.
“In keeping with its dedication to excellence in patient care, in January 2017, the department commenced the Cataract Initiative. The aim of this initiative was to reduce the backlog of approximately 500 patients on the waiting list for cataract surgery; and between January and July 2017, a total of 537 previously waitlisted surgeries were completed,” added the executive chairman. (JRT)