MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Dr Kieron Jones, urology consultant at Mandeville Regional Hospital, says urology patients will now have a shorter wait time for surgeries following the recent donation of $1.5 million worth of equipment to the facility.

The equipment, which he described as “revolutionary”, includes a bladder stone punch and a urethrotome for strictures.

“Previous to this instrument here, all patients with bladder stones — which is a symptomatic condition causing severe irritation in the bladder, pain, bleeding, urgency, wetting up yourself, and bloodclot sometimes — there was misery upon misery. Instead of having to cut the lower abdomen and spending five days in hospital we can use this instrument — under anaesthetic — through the penis and cut through the stone, and [within] a day that patient can be home,” he said while displaying the bladder stone punch last Friday.

Dr Jones referred to the equipment donated by Manchester Wellness Foundation as urology treasure.

“The impact of this is tremendous because the patient satisfaction with this is absolutely amazing. [Now] if you have a stricture, that is a scar in the urethra, you can’t pee, you get infection, you get stones, you must end up with a catheter in the lower abdomen. With this equipment we just slide it into the blockage and we just cut the stricture,” he said.

He said the urethrotome reduces the operation time to at least 15 minutes.

“It saves a ton of morbidity and patient suffering,” he said.

Dr Jones, while grateful for the equipment, said the urology department is also in need of a surgical camera system for precision.

He added that he expects that the Mandeville hospital will now get scores of referrals for urology patients with the recently donated equipment in use.

“I see the referrals coming in from Percy Junor and May Pen hospitals… Our catheter clinic here has seen a spike in the last four months,” he said, while pointing out the potential resource savings.

“This is $1.5 million and yet still this will do $150 million of work to the patients, hospitals and the facilities,” said Dr Jones.

He is encouraging healthy eating to minimise the risk of prostatic symptoms.

“In terms of dietary recommendations, these would have to start from when you are very young. Most prostatic symptoms would start around age 60 — it [means this] is 40 years of improper eating. Eat less red meat; no greasy and fried food; no butter, no cheese or anything fatty. Eat more green vegetables. The only thing for you to put in oil or grease is tomatoes. Heated tomatoes actually release a substance that is helpful for the prostate,” he said.