REVIEW NEEDED OF NORTH DUBLIN CHILD ORTHODONTIC WAITING LISTS - KENNY

Posted on October 17, 2014 3:10 PM   |   Permanent Link   

Dublin Bay North Labour TD Sean Kenny has said he is concerned at the inconvenience and financial difficulty caused to people who are being asked to transfer from their local orthodontic treatment centre to one further away. He was speaking in a Dáil debate on the issue of orthodontic waiting lists.

"Deputy Kenny said: "Recently, parents of children in my constituency, who are on orthodontic waiting lists for treatment at the Ashtown Gate Dental Clinic on the Navan Road, have been notified that they should transfer to the waiting list at Louth County Hospital's Orthodontic Clinic in Dundalk. This would involve considerable travel costs for parents, particularly as treatment can involve several return visits to the dental clinic, as well as travel time for the child and their parent."

"I read into the Dail record a letter from the HSE to a family in my constituency, asking them to switch from Ashtown Gate to Louth County Hospital, which is over 55 miles from their home. The tone of the letter concerned was effectively putting 'a gun to their head', in saying that they must either go to Dundalk, or face not receiving orthodontic treatment for their child. Further, the letter did not give any idea of how long they would have to wait if they remained on the Ashtown Gate waiting list."

"The parents in this case found the notification disturbing, and I wrote to the Director General of the HSE asking him to review the orthodontic clinic location for children in north Dublin City, and to find a more convenient alternative location for a dental clinic. Yesterday, I received a reply from Mr. O'Brien's office telling me that my correspondence had been referred to the HSE Parliamentary Affairs Division."

"Frankly, I don't think that this response is good enough, and for this reason I sought to raise the matter for debate as a Topical Issue yesterday. I would ask the Minister for Health to intervene urgently with the HSE to find a more accessible orthodontic dental treatment clinic for the Dublin region north of the Liffey."