asked the Minister for Health if he is aware that dental accommodation, including the new centre at Tullamore, County Offaly, is totally inadequate from a dental point of view; if he will arrange a conference for all the dental staff in the Laois/Offaly area with the senior dental surgeon and the CEO of the Midland Health Board, despite the difficulty this will pose on account of the limited office accommodation at the disposal of the dental staff; if, at some future date, he will personally visit and inspect the senior dental surgeon's office at the County Hospital in Tullamore, at Portlaoise, Edenderry, Birr, Mountmellick, Mountrath, Abbeyleix, Ballylinan and Portarlington; that there is no adequate telephone service in most of the clinics and in the main office at Portlaoise; and the action he intends to take regarding this unsatisfactory state of affairs.
Written Answers. - Laois/Offaly Dental Services.
I would not accept that all dental treatment accommodation in the Laois/Offaly area is totally inadequate. I am aware that the health board is considering and indeed actively implementing proposals to improve the structure and equipment in some clinics—this includes issues such as office accommodation and telephone services.
Any proposals in this regard submitted to me by the Midland Health Board, or indeed by any health board, will be examined expeditiously and sympathetically.
A conference on the lines indicated is a matter for the chief executive officer of the health board who, I understand, has had a number of discussions with the senior dental surgeon for Laois/Offaly on the facilities available for dental treatment.
I do not intend to visit and inspect office accommodation in the area. The chief dental officer in the Department of Health will visit the area in the near future to acquaint himself with dental services there and no doubt any matters requiring attention will be brought to his notice.
459.
asked the Minister for Health why the position of a permanent wholetime orthodontist in the Laois/Offaly area has not been created; the oral surgery services available to Laois/Offaly, besides the overcrowded Dublin Dental Hospital; the action which is being taken to recruit staff, and to create attractive career structures to attract young dental surgeons; and if he will allow auxiliaries to improve the service.
I have already initiated a review which will lead to the preparation of a comprehensive development programme for the dental services. The necessary consultations have been taking place with the dental profession and other interested agencies. This review inevitably encompasses all grades of staff required, including auxiliaries, and it includes the question of the development of specialist dental services, including orthodontics. The creation of a post of orthodontist under the Midland Health Board was deferred pending further progress with that review.
Oral surgery services are available in Ballinasloe as well as in Dublin for patients from the Laois-Offaly area.
There is a vacancy for one permanent whole-time dental surgeon in Laois/Offaly. This post was advertised by the Local Appointments Commission on 27 September 1978, with a closing date for receiving completed application forms on 16 November 1978.
I understand that there are claims before the Local Government Staff Negotiations Board for a review of grading structures and for additional renumeration for dental officers.
460.
asked the Minister for Health if he will state, in respect of the Midland Health Board area, the location of an operating theatre for dental treatment and anaesthetic facilities; the number of hopital beds for dental patients in the area; if he is aware that anaesthetic facilities are inadequate at Portlaoise hospital, and non-existent at Tullamore; and if he considers this state of affairs to be satisfactory.
Facilities for dental treatment under general anaesthetic are available in Mullingar and Portlaoise general hospitals and in the district hospital in Athlone. The facilities in Portlaoise are not entirely satisfactory but the development of a second operating theatre which is currently under construction will enable improvements to be made. Patients from the Tullamore area requiring treatment under general anaesthetic are currently treated in Athlone or Ballinasloe. I understand that a new health centre which is under construction in Tullamore will incorporate facilities for providing treatment under general anaesthesia. Accordingly, I expect that the position should improve substantially in the near future.
There are no hospital beds for in-patient dental treatment in the Midland Health Board area. This is a reflection of the very small number of patients who require such treatment and for whom special arrangements are made by the board on an individual basis.
461.
asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the excessively long waiting lists for dental treatment in the Counties of Laois and Offaly; the arrangements which are being made in the area to treat long-stay hospital patients; those with medical problems; the mentally and physically handicapped; the location of in-patient dental facilities in Laois/Offaly; and if he will make a statement on these matters.
I am aware that considerable delays are being experienced by eligible persons in obtaining dental treatment in Laois-Offaly, in common with other areas throughout the country. The options available to improve the situation generally are currently the subject of an in-depth review of the public dental service.
I understand that patients in St. Fintan's hospital who are in need of dental treatment are attended by a visiting dentist while patients in other hospitals are treated by the board's dental staff in the nearest dental clinic or, where necessary, within the hospital.
Eligible persons with medical conditions relevant to their dental treatment are treated by the board's dental staff or are referred to specialist dental practitioners upon consultant medical advice, where necessary.
There are no special arrangements for the treatment of the mentally and physically handicapped who are, however, regarded as a priority group by the board.
There are no in-patient dental facilities in the Midland Health Board area in view of the small number of patients requiring such treatment, for whom individual arrangements are made by the board.