Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 November 2004
201 Mr. Ferris asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the number on the waiting list for orthodontic treatment in County Kerry; and the number of orthodontists that are assigned to the county. [30223/04]
View answerThe provision of orthodontic services in County Kerry is the statutory responsibility of the Southern Health Board in the first instance. Orthodontic information by county is not routinely collected by my Department. Therefore, the chief executive officer of the Southern Health Board has been requested to provide the information requested directly to the Deputy.
202 Mr. Ferris asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children when a person (details supplied) in County Kerry, who has been on the waiting list for orthodontic treatment, can expect to receive that treatment. [30224/04]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, responsibility for the provision of orthodontic treatment to eligible persons in County Kerry rests with the Southern Health Board. My Department has asked the chief executive officer of the board to investigate the matter raised by the Deputy and to reply to him directly.
203 Mr. Ferris asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if there is adequate funding or orthodontic care to cut the inordinate amount of time that people are forced to wait for treatment. [30225/04]
View answerThe provision of orthodontic services is the statutory responsibility of the health boards and health authority in the first instance. The aim of my Department is to develop the treatment capacity of orthodontics in a sustainable way over the longer term. I am pleased to advise the Deputy that a number of measures have been adopted to improve orthodontic services 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 19 dentists from various health boards for specialist in orthodontics qualifications at training programmes in Ireland and at three separate universities in the United Kingdom. The trainees for the public orthodontic service included six dentists who successfully completed their training in September 2004 and have taken up duties with the boards. These 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.
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. The appointment of a professor will facilitate the development of an approved training programme leading to specialist qualification in orthodontics. My Department has given approval in principle to a proposal to further substantially improve training facilities for orthodontics at the school which will ultimately support an enhanced teaching and treatment service to the wider region under the leadership of the professor of orthodontics.
In June 2002, my Department provided additional funding of €5 million from the treatment purchase fund to health boards and the authority specifically for the purchase of orthodontic treatment. The funding enables boards to provide additional sessions for existing staff and purchase treatment from private specialist orthodontic practitioners. The chief executive officers of the health boards and the 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 and authority since the end of the September 2001 quarter.
