MANCHESTER, Jamaica — Urology patients at the Mandeville Regional Hospital (MRH) in Manchester are to benefit from the use of a resectoscope valued ay J $1.1 million. The piece of equipment is used for prostate and bladder surgeries.

According to a news release, the equipment and its accessories will be used for most of the endoscopic surgeries performed in the hospital’s urology department.

Urology is the branch of medicine that focuses on the diseases of the male and female urinary tract and the male reproductive organs.

Consultant urologist at the MRH, Dr K. Sean Jones explained that the resectoscope donated by the Manchester Wellness Foundation, is of immense value as it is not present in many hospitals islandwide.

“Most of the hospitals don’t have this equipment and we have depended on private equipment brought in. Many doctors have lost their expensive lens and had to buy it back, so we will be looking after this very carefully,” he said. “Thank you very much Manchester Wellness Foundation as we move forward with the operations of the department. This is what we started using in the 20th century and we are now in the 21st century, so we are already one century behind but thank God we made it this far and we plan to add item by item to our repertoire,” said Jones.

CEO at the facility, Alwyn Miller expressed gratitude to the Foundation for assisting the hospital with its inventory of specialised equipment.

“Some years ago one of my colleagues made the point of the value of having the appropriate equipment in the hands of a specialist who knows how to use it in terms of the intervention that can be made in the interest of patient care,” Miller said.

“We are thankful that we have Dr. Jones who is a part of our surgical team and who has given us guidance in terms of equipment that can help in his particular service to many members of the population not only in Manchester but across the region. As he said it is not available in many hospitals which points to the value,” Miller added.