The Health Act 2004 provided for the Health Service Executive, HSE, which was established on 1 January 2005. Under the Act, the executive has the responsibility to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. This includes responsibility for orthodontic services.
The chief officers of the HSE areas have informed my Department of the following information on their orthodontic assessment and treatment waiting lists, as shown in the table, as at the end of December 2004.
|
Assessment Waiting List
|
Treatment Waiting List
|
|
Health Service Executive
|
Numbers awaiting assessment
|
Average waiting time (months)
|
Category A
|
Average waiting time (months)
|
Category B
|
Average waiting time (months)
|
|
South Western Area
|
403
|
3- 6
|
619
|
12
|
254
|
24
|
|
East Coast Area
|
121
|
< 3
|
33
|
< 6
|
167
|
< 18
|
|
Northern Area
|
135
|
3- 6
|
97
|
< 18
|
2466
|
< 36
|
|
Midland Area
|
173
|
4
|
Nil
|
No Waiting Time
|
312
|
12
|
|
Mid Western Area
|
2,896
|
24- 36
|
Nil
|
No Waiting Time
|
730
|
24- 36
|
|
North Eastern Area
|
Nil
|
No waiting time
|
8
|
1.5- 2
|
276
|
18
|
|
North Western Area
|
2,557
|
10.5
|
179
|
8
|
1,191
|
24.5
|
|
South Eastern Area
|
236
|
2- 2.5
|
Nil
|
No Waiting Time
|
675
|
18
|
|
Southern Area
|
2,853
|
According to Date of Birth. Currently 1990
|
Nil
|
No Waiting Time
|
3,362
|
42- 48
|
|
Western Area
|
580
|
12
|
Nil
|
No Waiting Time
|
584
|
30
|
|
Total
|
9,954
|
|
936
|
|
10,017
|
|
Patients in category A require immediate treatment and include those with congenital abnormalities of the jaws such as cleft lip and palate and patients with major skeletal discrepancies between the sizes of the jaws. Patients in category B have less severe problems than category A patients.
The number of cases treated is dependent on the level of resources available, in terms of qualified staff, in the area and this is reflected in the treatment waiting list. In fact, the provision of orthodontic services is currently restricted due to the limited availability of trained specialist clinical staff to assess and treat patients and, accordingly, HSE areas do not normally maintain category C waiting lists.
My Department has taken steps to address the shortage of trained staff and improve orthodontic services through the grade of specialist in orthodontics. Six dentists successfully completed their three year specialist in orthodontics training and commenced work in the HSE in October 2004 and a further 13 are currently in training.
Although the Deputy has requested information on waiting list trends over the last five years, complete records at a national level are only available from September 2000. The above table shows that at the end of the December 2004 quarter, there were 9,954 patients awaiting orthodontic assessment and 10,953 patients awaiting orthodontic treatment. This compares favourably with 18,793 patients awaiting orthodontic assessment and 12,593 patients awaiting orthodontic treatment at the end of the September 2000 quarter and represents a reduction of 47% and 13% approximately, respectively, in the period to December 2004.
Finally, at the end of the December 2004 quarter, there were 23,572 patients receiving orthodontic treatment in the public orthodontic service. This means that there are over twice as many patients getting orthodontic treatment as there are waiting to be treated and more than 8,500 extra patients are getting treatment from the Health Service Executive since the end of the September 2000 quarter.
