Billy Timmins
Question:293 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Health and Children when a person (details supplied) in County Wicklow will receive orthodontic treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23816/01]
Written Answers. - Orthodontic Service.
As the provision of orthodontic services to eligible persons in County Wicklow is the statutory responsibility of the Eastern Regional Health Authority, I have asked the chief executive officer of that authority to investigate the position in relation to this case and to reply directly to the Deputy as a matter of urgency.
Seán Power
Question:294 Mr. Power asked the Minister for Health and Children the plans he has to address the waiting list for orthodontic treatment in the South Western Area Health Board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23817/01]
The provision of orthodontic services is the responsibility of the health boards in the first instance. At the invitation of my Department, a group representative of health board management and consultant orthodontists reviewed the orthodontic services. The objective of this review was to ensure equity in the provision of orthodontic treatment throughout the health boards. Following this review structural changes are being introduced in the orthodontic services. These changes include the creation of the grade of specialist in orthodontics, the development of specialist training programmes and the creation of a grade of auxiliary dental worker to work in the orthodontic area.
However, it will be some time before these structural changes impact significantly on service levels. Consequently, I asked health boards to develop proposals to make an immediate significant impact on their waiting lists. An additional investment of £5.3 million, 6.729 million, has been approved for orthodontic services this year, of which £3.7 million, 4.698 million, is to fund an initiative on orthodontic waiting lists. The ERHA has been allocated an additional £2.34 million, 2.971 million, this year for orthodontic services of which £1.61 million, 2.044 million, was for the orthodontic initiative.
The chief executive officer of the ERHA has advised me of the following developments in the South Western Area Health Board – SWAHB – in relation to its initiative to improve its orthodontic services: a second consultant orthodontist has been appointed to the SWAHB; a manager to manage the orthodontic service in the board has been appointed and the successful candidate has taken up duty; a competition to fill the post of dental hygienist in the board will be organised in the near future; a competition in respect of dental surgery assistant posts in the board will be organised in the near future; the previously vacant post of superintendent radiographer at the regional orthodontic unit in St. James's Hospital has been filled; the equipping of an additional five surgery unit at the St. James's Hospital orthodontic unit is almost complete and is now operational; validation of existing waiting lists is currently in progress; and agreement has been reached between the ERHA and the Dublin Dental Hospital on the training of specialists to work in orthodontics and two dentists for the SWAHB have commenced their training. I am also informed by the chief executive officer of the ERHA that at the end of the September 2001 quarter, there were 3,288 patients in orthodontic treatment in the authority.