7,000 Laois children were waiting on their first dental screening in April
The information was obtained by Laois TD Brian Stanley
A Laois TD said there were 7,000 children in Laois waiting on their first dental screening in April this year.
Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley claims that the Laois/Offaly School Dental Scheme is chronically understaffed.
Deputy Stanley says that information he received recently from the HSE shows that the “staffing of the scheme is less than half of the minimum required for it to function properly.’’
“Currently there are three full time and one part time dentists, where there should be a minimum of seven full time. There are two full time and one part time positions vacant at present and a further full time dentist has been on long term leave since the start of the year. The shortage of dentistry staff working directly within the HSE system in the constituency is having a detrimental effect on the oral health of children at Primary and Secondary School level.’’
“As I outlined earlier in the year, children are being seen by a dentist for the first time when they are more than halfway through secondary school, whereas they should be seen in fourth, fifth and sixth class in Primary School. In April there were 7,000 children in Laois and 3,338 in Offaly waiting for their first dental screening,” said Dep Stanley.
According to Dep Stanley, the crisis has been caused by a freeze in recruitment of frontline positions which was directed by the Government last Autumn.
“Now that the embargo has been lifted, the HSE now inform me that a new recruitment campaign is to be advertised this month. They also have commenced two evening sessions per week in Portlaoise for dental services to children on the school waiting list in Laois and two extra daytime sessions per week in Tullamore to deal with the backlog there. While these are welcome developments, it is not near enough to clear the backlog of thousands of children still awaiting screening and treatment,” he said. ’
Dep Stanley believes additional training places should be created for student dentists.
“When people have gained their qualifications, they need to be offered realistic and long-term employment within the public dental system. Failure to do this will mean that the School Dental Scheme will limp along for years to come,” he said.