In absence of material required, the ocular operations in the associated hospital of Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) here have stopped. This comes at a time when the eye surgeons of the hospital are carrying out about twenty operations of cataract and glaucoma cases per day. The Intra-Ocular lens (IOl) and other surgery usable for these operations are provided by the Union government under National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB) due which these operations are performed free of cost in the government hospitals. The NPCB is implemented by District Blindness Control Society (DBCS), which is headed by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO).
It is learnt that citing budget problem and the fact that the erstwhile Doon hospital is now part of medical college, the DBCS is dragging its feet to provide surgical materials and the medicines to the associated hospital of GDMC from September, 2016. In view of the large patient inflow, the hospital administration decided to provide these materials from the contingency fund of the hospital but now short of funds, the hospital has requested the DBCS to provide the material. However the DBCS cited budget problem and refused to offer any help to the hospital. The eye patients bore the brunt of this refusal as the operations have got stopped in the associated hospital. About twenty eye operations a day are lined up in the hospital since the beginning of the month but the surgeons are refusing the patients and asking the patients to contact after some days. A cataract surgery requires materials like Keratome knives, crescent, visco- elastic and IOl.
The head of department of Ophthalmology, Dr Sushil Ojha accepted that routine operations have got stopped but added that the emergency operations are being conducted when required.
The Medical Superintendent (MS) of the hospital Dr K K Tamta said that it for the CMO to provide necessary material for the operation as they are performed under the national programme.
When contacted, the CMO of Dehradun, Dr Y S Thapliyal told The Pioneer that the firm supplying these materials has stopped supply as there is a pendency of about Rs 6.5 lakhs on part of the department. He however claimed that the DBCS has received the budget now and the process of payment to the firm has started. He said that supply of surgery usable for the hospital would be restored in two to three days.