Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 9 Oct 2002

Vol. 554 No. 5

Written Answers. - Orthodontic Service.

Gay Mitchell

Ceist:

1190 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Health and Children if a person (details supplied) in Dublin 12 is entitled to orthodontic treatment having been five years on the waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17083/02]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin):

As the Deputy is aware, the provision of orthodontic treatment in this case is the responsibility of the Eastern Regional Health Authority in the first instance. Therefore, the regional chief execu tive of the authority has been requested to investigate the case and reply to the Deputy directly.

I am pleased to advise the Deputy that I have taken a number of measures to improve orthodontic services on a national basis. The grade of specialist in orthodontics has been created in the health board orthodontic service. The introduction of this pivotal grade will have a tremendous impact on the future delivery of orthodontics in the public service: ultimately, it will address the issues of recruitment and retention of qualified clinical personnel in the service.

This year, my Department expects to fund 11 dentists from various health boards for specialist in orthodontics qualifications at training programmes in Ireland and at two separate universities in the United Kingdom. These 11 trainees for the public orthodontic service are additional to the six dentists who commenced their training last year and one dentist whose specialist training is nearing completion. This is an aggregate of 18 public service dentists currently in training for specialist in orthodontics qualifications.

The training programmes concerned provide a broad academic background and experience in different clinical treatment methods and are made possible by co-operation between health boards, health board consultant orthodontists and dental teaching institutions.

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 grade of orthodontic therapist will act as a support to the consultant orthodontist, specialists and other dentists working in the orthodontic unit thus enabling a greater volume of treatment.

In the short-term, I have funded an orthodontic initiative to ease current pressures on the system. Additional funding of €6.729 million was approved for orthodontic services last year of which €4.698 million was to fund an initiative on orthodontic waiting lists. This is enabling health boards to recruit additional staff and engage the services of private specialist orthodontic practitioners to treat patients.

Last June, my Department provided additional funding of €5 million from the treatment purchase fund to health boards specifically for the purchase of orthodontic treatment. This funding is enabling boards to provide both additional sessions for existing staff and purchase treatment from private specialist orthodontic practitioners.

Entitlement to orthodontic treatment is determined by reference to orthodontic guidelines, a set of objective clinical criteria applied by health board orthodontists when assessing children's priority of need for treatment. The orthodontic guidelines were issued by my Department in 1985 and are still in use. The orthodontic guidelines are used to ensure that orthodontic resources are prioritised for and applied equitably to the most severe cases. When a health board orthodontist decides that a child is in clinical need of ortho dontic treatment in accordance with the criteria, he or she is then placed on a treatment waiting list. The guidelines are intended to enable health boards to identify in a consistent way those in greatest need and to commence timely treatment for them. A child who has been assessed and comes within the guidelines will remain on the waiting list until treatment commences.