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Dental Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 March 2022

Tuesday, 8 March 2022

Questions (664)

Dara Calleary

Question:

664. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Health the steps that he has taken in the context of the 2022 HSE service plan to support medical card holders to access dental care; if his attention has been drawn to the virtual collapse of the service nationwide; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12929/22]

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Written answers

My immediate priority is to seek to address the current situation of medical card patients experiencing problems in accessing treatment. Approximately,1,150 private dentists continue to hold a contract with the HSE for the provision of dental services to medical card holders, but that number is down about 300 since the start of the pandemic.

In that respect, officials from my Department and from the HSE have held three rounds of discussions with the Irish Dental Association, the most recent on 2nd March when my Department and the HSE presented proposals to invest additional resources in the Dental Treatment Services Scheme, including €10m provided in the Budget, on top of the 2022 Estimate allocation of €56 million.

The Department / HSE has offered increased fees across a number of items and proposed the reintroduction of the Scale and Polish item. The Department is anxious to move the process on, in the interests of patients.

Under the recently published Department of Health waiting list plan initiative for 2022, €11 million in funding is to be made available for identified community initiatives, with a focus on orthodontics, primary care psychology and counselling in primary care. A further €9m is also included in the plan to support priority community areas with activity levels to be determined. Funding for these community areas will need to be specifically used to support additionality not currently funded through the HSE National Service Plan.

In 2021, the HSE commenced a new procurement that allows patients to have treatment with private Specialist Orthodontists. It replaces the previous procurement that ended in 2020. Under the new procurement the first patients were allocated to private Specialist Orthodontists in Q3 of 2021.  By the end of 2021, 870 patients had commenced treatment under these arrangements. 

The allocation of patients to private Specialist Orthodontists is continuing in 2022 and the HSE approved an orthodontic treatment waiting list initiative for Quarter 1 of 2022 that will see 750 Children and Young People assessed as Grade 4 who have been waiting over 4 years for treatment at a cost of €2.8m. In January, 261 children and young people have been taken off the orthodontics waiting list using private providers under this new procurement framework. The HSE are likely ready to commence the approval process in the coming weeks to continue the orthodontics waiting list initiative to the end of the year.

Question No. 665 answered with Question No. 467.
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