Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 5 Mar 2003

Vol. 562 No. 5

Written Answers - Orthodontic Service.

Michael Ring

Ceist:

281 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason, with so much money being spent on the orthodontic service in the Western Health Board, it continues to deny services to those for whom it was established to serve; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5747/03]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin)

As the Deputy is aware, the provision of orthodontic treatment to eligible patients is the statutory responsibility of the health boards in the first instance.

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 orthodontic 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.

The chief executive officer of the Western Health Board has informed me that at the end of December 2002 the board's orthodontic service was providing orthodontic treatment to 1,496 patients. This is an increase of 139 patients receiving orthodontic treatment in the boards orthodontic service when compared with the equivalent figure at the end of June 2002. I expect that this activity level will continue to increase as the measures that I have taken to improve orthodontic services continue to impact positively on the capacity of the service.