IPOH: Perak’s second largest public hospital is set to receive new eye testing equipment next month after dealing with a machine that has frequently broken down since 2014.
Taiping Hospital’s ophthalmology department will get the machine, known as Visual Field Perimetry, to be used to detect eye problems such as cataracts and glaucoma.
“The procurement process is being undertaken. Delivery should be made by Oct 20,” said Perak state Health Committee chairman A. Sivanesan.
Sivanesan said he had contacted the department head on the matter and was informed that the hospital only had one piece of such equipment, which had been breaking down frequently for the past nine years.
“Repairs were tried on the machine, but due to a lack of parts, the equipment was only able to be used until November 2021.
“A request for an allocation for the replacement of this device had been made by the hospital.
“As an alternative, patients were referred to private hospitals through an outsourcing programme during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he told The Star yesterday.
Sivanesan was responding to a reader of The Star who had highlighted the problem, saying that it had impacted many eye patients who were senior citizens.
“Since 2014, the Taiping Hospital has requested a replacement for a broken computerised eye testing machine. I am one of the patients who needs this, so I took it upon myself to inform the relevant persons via email in hopes that the issue can be resolved,” wrote Manavalan Palanisamy of Kamunting, Perak.
He bemoaned that the authorities had not given the Taiping Hospital’s eye clinic’s patients the attention they deserved in a Letter to the Editor that appeared on Tuesday under the headline “We don’t need millions, we just need one new machine.”
Responding to this, Sivanesan said that an application for the replacement of the machine was submitted by the hospital on Feb 17, 2022.
“The application (for the RM90,000 equipment) was approved on May 24 by the Health Ministry,” he added.
On another matter, Sivanesan said he hoped that Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa would pay a visit to Perak to resolve issues faced by hospitals in the state, such as the lack of equipment and the frequent breakdowns of old ambulances.
For instance, he said the intensive care unit of the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital (HRBP) in the state capital Ipoh was in dire need of expansion.
“As the main hospital in Perak, the ICU needs more beds, better equipment, and expansion, as the whole structure is very old.
“The equipment at the unit is collapsing.
“I have brought up the issue with the ministry and the minister, but nothing has been done so far,” he claimed.
Sivanesan also said that ambulances would often break down, impacting those staying in villages where there was no public transport after 7pm.
