Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 December 2004
122 Mr. Deenihan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the measurers she proposes to put in place to shorten the waiting time for orthodontic treatment in the Southern Health Board area, as it is now over four years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31638/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe provision of orthodontic services is the statutory responsibility of the health boards-authority in the first instance.
The aim of my Department is to develop the treatment capacity of orthodontics in a sustainable way over the longer term. I am pleased to advise the Deputy that a number of measures have been adopted to improve orthodontic services in the Southern Health Board, SHB, area and on a national basis.
The grade of specialist in orthodontics has been created in the health board orthodontic service. In 2003, my Department and the health boards funded 19 dentists from various health boards for specialist in orthodontics qualifications at training programmes in Ireland and at three separate universities in the United Kingdom. These 19 trainees for the public orthodontic service include six dentists who successfully completed their training in September 2004 and have taken up duties with the boards. 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.
Furthermore, the commitment of the Department to training development is manifested in the funding provided to both the training of specialist clinical staff and the recruitment of a professor in orthodontics for the Cork Dental School. This appointment at the school will facilitate the development of an approved training programme leading to specialist qualification in orthodontics. My Department has given approval in principle to a proposal to further substantially improve training facilities for orthodontics at the school, which will ultimately support an enhanced teaching and treatment service to the wider region under the leadership of the professor of orthodontics.
In June 2002, my Department provided additional funding of €5 million from the treatment purchase fund to health boards-authority 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. The SHB was allocated an additional €720,000 from this fund for the treatment of cases in this way.
The chief executive officers of the health boards-authority have informed my Department that at the end of the September 2004 quarter, there were 22,168 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 6,000 extra patients are getting treatment from the health boards/authority since the end of the September 2001 quarter. The chief executive officer of the SHB has informed my Department that at the end of the September 2004 quarter there 3,400 patients receiving orthodontic treatment in the Southern Health Board area. This compares favourably with a figure of 2,300 receiving such treatment at the end of the September 2001 quarter, and represents an increase of 1,100 patients in treatment, or an increase of almost 48%, over the four-year period.
