Eye surgery stopped at Suhrawardy Hospital; patients suffer
Four out of five UPS units of the Ophthalmology Department’s operation theatres at the hospital are out of service, putting a stop to surgery
Patients waiting for eye surgery are suffering because Dhaka's Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital has stopped operating since four out of five of its UPS units, or uninterruptible power supply units (UPS), of the Ophthalmology Department are out of service.
One such patient, who came from Lalmonirhat, was scheduled for eye surgery three months ago. But he failed to get the service because eye surgery at the hospital was stopped amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The patient came to Dhaka for the eye surgery a week ago but he was forced to return home after not getting a surgery date for a surgery because the operating theatres (OTs) were closed, thanks to the several damaged UPS.
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Hospital sources said all kinds of surgery were at a stop for more than two months since the government declared the hospital Covid-dedicated. When Covid cases started to drop, the hospital began treating non-Covid patients in full swing.
However when doctors prepared to do surgery, hospital authorities found that most of the UPS units in the OTs had gone out of service.
Doctors said the addition of a UPS system provides seamless power support as some equipment in the OT cannot be allowed to shut down even for a brief moment. Any disruption of the power supply to critical care medical equipment required in OTs and intensive care units (ICUs) can put the lives of patients at risk and so UPS units are mission critical for OTs.
A consultant of the hospital's Ophthalmology Department, wishing to remain unnamed, said "We are not able to do surgery when UPS units in the OTs are not functional. We have not been able do any surgery for the last two days as all five UPS units were out of service."
On a visit to the hospital on Monday, this correspondent came to know that a UPS had been repaired and became functional around 11am. Going forward, the hospital can now start eye surgery on a limited scale.
Dr Khalilur Rahman, director of Suhrawardy hospital, told the Business Standard, "We were informed about the damaged UPS on Sunday. A UPS has already been repaired and our technicians are trying to repair others. If they fail, we will write to the National Electro Medical Equipment Maintenance Workshop and Training Center about the matter and they will then take necessary measures. "
