|
Nearly 2,000 Donegal
patients are currently waiting for braces and other
orthodontic treatment at Letterkenny Hospital.
There are only two full-time orthodontic consultants
to cope with the backlog and with one of them due to
retire, waiting times are set to worsen.
The figures were supplied by Fine Gael's Deputy
Dinny McGinley who said the system was "bursting at
the seams".
"The waiting list for orthodontic treatment in
Donegal is so long that the HSE is not able to give
an estimate of how long patients will have to wait.
I became aware of this when I enquired on behalf of
a 14-year old constituent, who was assessed last
November, only to discover that he is 1,105th on the
waiting list," said Deputy McGinley.
The figures show that a total of 1,104 Donegal
patients are on the waiting list with a further 811
patients waiting to be assessed. More than 200
patients are priority cases as they have conditions
such as a cleft palate.
"This waiting list is served by just two full-time
orthodontic clinicians who are both fully booked.
"Worse, one of them is due to retire and local
health specialists foresee difficulties in filling
his post. So this already dire situation is set to
get much worse in the near future with Donegal
orthodontic patients stuck in a seemingly immoveable
bottleneck," he added.
Deputy McGinley hit out at the 'tired, arrogant'
Government. He said: "The failure to negotiate with
dentists has also meant that the range of services
for medical card holders has been drastically
curtailed.
"As is always the case with this tired, arrogant
Government it is the patient andtaxpayer who bears
the brunt by having to endure a completely
unacceptable level of service."
|
