Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 June 2004
351 Dr. Fitzpatrick asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of children within the Northern Area Health Board area that are on the waiting list for orthodontic treatment; the number that have been on the waiting list for more than 12 months; the length of time it will take to clear the waiting list with current resources; and if he intends to make orthodontic treatment available through the treatment purchase scheme. [17174/04]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the provision of orthodontic services is a matter for the health boards or authority in the first instance.
I am pleased to advise the Deputy that I have taken a number of measures to improve orthodontic services in the Northern Area Health Board, or NAHB, area of the Eastern Regional Health Authority, or ERHA, and on a national basis.
The grade of specialist in orthodontics has been created in the health board orthodontic service. In 2003, my Department and the health boards funded 13 dentists from various health boards for specialist in orthodontics qualifications at training programmes in Ireland and at three separate universities in the United Kingdom. Those 13 trainees for the public orthodontic service are additional to the six dentists who commenced their training in 2001. Thus, there is an aggregate of 19 dentists in specialist training for orthodontics, including five from the ERHA. Those measures will complement the other structural changes being introduced into the orthodontic service, including the creation of an auxiliary grade of orthodontic therapist to work in the orthodontic area.
Furthermore, the commitment of the Department to training development is manifested in the funding provided to both the training of specialist clinical staff and the recruitment of a professor in orthodontics for the Cork Dental School. That appointment at the school will facilitate the development of an approved training programme leading to specialist qualification in orthodontics. The chief executive officer of the Southern Health Board has reported that the professor commenced duty on 1 December 2003. In recognition of the importance of that post at Cork Dental School, my Department has given approval in principle to a proposal from the school further to substantially improve the training facilities there for orthodontics. That project should see the construction of a large orthodontic unit and support facilities; it will ultimately support an enhanced teaching and treatment service to the wider region under the leadership of the professor of orthodontics.
Orthodontic initiative funding of €2.044 million was provided to the ERHA in 2001, and that has enabled the authority to recruit additional staff and build additional orthodontic facilities. The authority has developed additional orthodontic facilities at Loughlinstown, Ashtown and at the regional orthodontic unit located at St. James's Hospital.
In June 2002, my Department provided additional funding of €5 million from the treatment purchase fund towards the treatment of persons on the orthodontic waiting lists; the ERHA received €1.815 million from that fund. My Department instructed the health boards and authority that the funding was to be allocated on the basis of the following principles: treatment of clients longest on the waiting list in accordance with the severity of their treatment need; allocation to provide additional treatment over and above what was provided in the normal way; efficiency and value for money; and equitable delivery across health board populations. The regional chief executive of the ERHA has informed my Department of the following information on the NAHB treatment waiting list at the end of March 2004:
|
Area Health Board |
Category A |
Average waiting time |
Category B |
Average waiting time |
|
NAHB |
62 |
< 12 |
2,334 |
< 24 months |
The management of orthodontic waiting lists is the statutory responsibility of the authority. Therefore, my Department has asked the regional chief executive of the authority to provide the Deputy with the information requested regarding its waiting lists.
Finally, the regional chief executive of the authority has informed my Department that, at the end of the March quarter 2004, there were 3,782 children receiving orthodontic treatment in the public orthodontic service in the ERHA.
