The provision of orthodontic treatment to patients in County Wicklow is the statutory responsibility of the Eastern Regional Health Authority – ERHA – in the first instance. I recognise that the waiting times for orthodontic treatment are unacceptably long. 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.
Agreement has now been reached at the Health Service Employers Agency on the creation of the specialist in orthodontics grade in the orthodontic service. In addition, four dentists for the Eastern Regional Health Authority commenced their training in October 2001 for specialist in orthodontics qualifications and discussions on providing an additional training course to commence in 2002 are also under way. Through the Postgraduate Medical and Dental Board, I have also funded the appointment of a director of specialist training for the Irish Committee for Specialist Training in Dentistry. The postgraduate director will assume his duties in January 2002. His role will be to promote and ensure that co-ordinated postgraduate training in dentistry of a high standard is provided.
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. This will enable health boards to recruit additional staff and engage the services of private specialist orthodontic practitioners to treat patients. 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.