Cuttack: Eye care facility at SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) here has taken a beating as the building of the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology (RIO) is being used as an isolation ward for suspected Covid-19 patients.
The Ophthalmology department is now providing outdoor treatment to people while surgery and other facilities have been virtually stopped since March this year, sources said.
The RIO was asked to vacate a major portion of its four-storey building to facilitate the isolation ward. The hospital authorities had asked the institute to use the operation theatre (OT) of the ENT department for emergency cases, sources added.
“The Ophthalmology department was asked to share the ENT OT for emergency operations only in March this year. Since then, the institute has been providing only outdoor treatment while all other facilities have come to a grinding halt. As a result, many people have been deprived of eye care at SCBMCH,” said a social activist.
According to sources, people from across Odisha and outside depend upon the RIO at SCBMCH for eye care. As per the data, the institute usually conducts cataract operations on around 1,000 patients in a month.
“The eye care facility at the institute has been severely affected by the opening of the isolation ward. This is evident from the fact that the institute has not conducted a single cataract operation in last eight months. Infrastructure woes have also affected the studies of 27 postgraduate students at the ophthalmology institute,” said a source.