Vol. 543 No. 1
69 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Health and Children the total number of persons awaiting orthodontic treatment in the Eastern Regional Health Authority area; the steps being taken to reduce the waiting lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25606/01]
The provision of orthodontic services is the responsibility of the health boards in the first instance. At the invitation of my Department, a group representative of health board management and consultant orthodontists reviewed the orthodontic services. The objective of this review was to ensure equity in the provision of orthodontic treatment throughout the health boards. Following this review structural changes are being introduced in the orthodontic services. These changes include the creation of the grade of specialist in orthodontics, the development of specialist training programmes and the creation of a grade of auxiliary dental worker to work in the orthodontic area.
Agreement has now been reached at the Health Service Employers' Agency on the creation of the specialist in orthodontics grade in the orthodontic service. In addition, four dentists for the Eastern Regional Health Authority commenced their training this month for specialist in orthodontics qualifications and discussions on providing an additional training course to commence in 2002 are also under way. Through the Post-graduate Medical and Dental Board, I have also funded the appointment of a director of specialist training for the Irish Committee for Specialist Training in Dentistry. The post-graduate director will assume his duties in January 2002. The director's role will be to promote and ensure that co-ordinated postgraduate training in dentistry of a high standard is provided.
However, it will be some time before these structural changes impact significantly on service levels. Consequently, I asked health boards to develop proposals to make an immediate significant impact on their waiting lists. An additional investment of £5.3 million – 6.729 million – has been approved for orthodontic services this year, of which £3.7 million – 4.698 million – is to fund an initiative on orthodontic waiting lists. This will enable health boards to recruit additional staff and engage the services of private specialist orthodontic practitioners to treat patients.
The ERHA has been allocated an additional £2.34 million – 2.971 million – this year for orthodontic services of which £1.61 million – 2.044 million – was for the orthodontic initiative. The chief executive officer of the ERHA has advised me of the following developments in relation to its initiative to improve its orthodontic services: two additional consultant orthodontists, two specialists in orthodontics and two permanent superintendent radiographers have been recruited; interviews for posts of dental surgery assistants in the East Coast Area Health Board have been completed and the recruitment process for the successful candidates is almost finalised; a competition to fill the post of dental hygienist in the ECAHB has been completed and the recruitment process for the successful candidate is currently in train.
