Infection control during pandemic are a must in all the hospitals for keeping the facility safe for visiting patients and health care workers. Vision care with care of safety has been done at Maxivision Eye Hospital with diligent infection control practices and protocols.
We have lived and survived with SARS, HNI, and many other viruses which had come to our country. We hear a lot about these deadly virus outbreaks in countries like Africa. But COVID 19 shook the entire world and became a mortal monster with fatalities spreading across all the ages. All hospitals, and health care workers, including doctors and paramedics, are duty bound to take care of any patients, irrespective of any reported or undisclosed infections patients may carry. COVID 19 symptoms were visible symptoms, albeit, a few asymptomatic cases.
Keeping the facility safe for visiting patients and health care workers:
Clinical and Sterility protocols of Maxivision eye hospitals has always been audited and put to dynamic continuous improvement by our expert doctors and clinicians. Keeping the facility safe for visiting patients and health care workers is a priority for the Maxivision eye hospital. Post-COVID outbreak, Maxivision clinical team sat together and devised a diligent infection control processes and protocols, on every touchpoints, and contact points of patients and health care workers, right from entry to exit of the guest into our premises. We filled the gaps in traditional cleaning systems and added additional steps and control measures to the existing best sterility practices that we already follow.
Ophthalmology, is a health care profession, which necessitate very close distance with the patients. To diagnose or to operate, the doctor, paramedic, or surgeon has to come very close contact to the patients. Our focus was more to how to protect both patient and health care worker from infection transmission due to close distance. The new Infection Control protocols define strict processes from entry till exit of any person entering the premises, including staff and doctors. These include temperature check, sanitizing hands at entry and exit points, self declaration forms. Inside the system, every person use automated foot cover dispenser before entering, there are automated sanitizer dispensers at every contact points, like reception desk, stairs, lifts etc. We have displayed luminated sticker markings on the floor inside the hospital premises for social distancing.
Additional safety measures at front desk during interactions, frequenting cleaning of all contact surfaces like cash, credit card machines, telephones, mobiles etc. All seating arrangements in the waiting room were restructure with the new social distancing norm. Gowns and PPE kits have been provided for all staff members, with vicers and protective glasses for all staff and doctors who come in close contact with the patients. All instruments and utilities, like patient chair, slit lamp were protected with disposable sheets after seeing every patients. Slit lamps and other diagnostic equipments had a protective polymer partition to keep safe during close contact. After all doctor interactions with patients, in specific intervals, rooms undergo cleaning and sanitization.
We use Ultrasound cleaner for every instrument, have installed Air Purifier, (Aerocide machines) inside every rooms to keep the air clean. UV radiation lamps disinfect used frames and glasses in our optical stores. Refreshments are served in disposables. Bathrooms are cleaned and sterilised every half hour gap. Apart from this after days operations, the entire hospital is fumigated using same standard materials we use in our Operation theatres. For every surgeries we use disposable items, including patient aprons, bed linens, and surgical instruments. The implants of IOL for cataract surgeries are all done through preloaded method, to avoid hand touch. We also advise our cataract patients to choose Robotic Cataract surgeries for added safety assurance.
Keeping patient care ahead of all:
The basic idea behind these additional measures is to keep you and our doctors and our staff safe from the malice of the corona virus pandemic. Pandemic will not help reduce the pain of cataract or help restore vision. Vision care is almost preventive, and all have to get their eyes checked at least once in 6 months to detect and prevent any vision threatening diseases like Glaucoma, Diabetic Retina etc. Children getting exposed to online education need to have their vision health checked at least once in 6 months, to avoid any eye strain or decrease in vision. Cataracts need to be operated in time to avoid growing to mature cataract and make surgery and recovery difficult.
Keeping patient care ahead of all, we have devised all these protocols to keep servicing the needy patients and every since the lockdown in March we have been operating all our hospitals with all these safety guidelines approved by IMA, DMHO and GHMC. There was no compromise on any of these measures, and to have crowd control, we reduced our staff strength, to minimal in all hospitals. From the month of April, we have seen over 30000 patients, and have operated over 1000 eye surgeries across our branches. And we have no single incident of infection, or mishaps due to corona to any of our patients. We keep our IP protocol very airtight and also keep tracking patient health post surgery, as always.
25 years of service to this state, at Maxivision we have always been focussing on your care and safety and this Covid pandemic has augmented the processes to take more good care of you. So let me assure you that our hospitals are safe and you can visit any of our hospitals for you vision care we will not compromise on any measures to keep you safe please feel free to walk in to our facilities for your procedures and eye care done.
Mr. Sudheer – COO
Maxivision Eye Hospital.
Hyderabad