Dan Neville
Question:237 Mr. Neville asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the number of persons waiting for assessment for orthodontic services in the mid-west region. [27106/04]
View answerTuesday, 2 November 2004
Questions (170)
Written answers
The provision of orthodontic services is the statutory responsibility of the health boards or the Eastern Regional Health Authority in the first instance. The chief executive officer of the Mid-Western Health Board has informed my Department that there were 2,737 patients awaiting assessment at the end of the September 2004 quarter. This means the assessment waiting list in the board has, been reduced by 859 since the end of 2001. The chief executive officer has also informed my Department that at the end of the September 2004 quarter, there were 1,863 patients receiving orthodontic treatment in the board.
The chief executive officers of the health boards or authority have informed my Department that at the end of the September 2004 quarter, there were 22,168 patients receiving orthodontic treatment in the public orthodontic service. This means that there are more than twice as many patients getting orthodontic treatment as there are waiting to be treated and more than 6,000 extra patients are getting treatment from the health boards or authority since the end of the September 2001 quarter.