School dental scheme failing children

Mon, 09 Dec, 2019 - 05:45

Catherine Shanahan

The precarious state of the school dental programme is highlighted in an Irish Examiner investigation which shows thousands of schoolchildren missing out on vital dental check-ups, unacceptably long waiting lists, and a service rife with staff vacancies.

The scheme is supposed to deliver free dental check-ups and associated treatments to schoolchildren to coincide with key dental development stages, but up to 70 vacancies across the service means children are missing out.

Just two of the three “target” age groups are offered screening — first/second class and sixth class pupils. The service is not available to fourth class pupils, with the exception of the North West (Sligo/Leitrim/Donegal) and Dublin North City.

In Waterford/Wexford, no children in second and sixth classes have been offered dental examination or treatment in the 2018-2019 period;

In Carlow/Kilkenny, no child from the 2019-2020 period has been seen other than in the emergency clinics;

In Dublin South West/Kildare West Wicklow, fourth class pupils have not been offered examinations for approximately five years due to reduced staffing.

Even though the programme is supposed to act as a gateway into state-funded orthodontic services for children with more complex dental needs, the reality is that those referred on for more specialist treatment can wait years.

In Co Kerry, there are 120 children on a two-year waiting list for treatment under general anaesthetic;

In the Midwest, there are 87 children awaiting assessment with the orthodontic service, while another 1,728 are on the treatment waiting list with problems ranging from significant to severe;

For routine cases in need of orthodontic services in the Midwest, the waiting time on average is three and a half to four years.

The deficits call into question Government plans to expand the provision of care for children under a new national oral health policy, Smile agus Sláinte, published in May this year.

The policy envisages that children up to the age of 16 will receive eight oral healthcare packages. It will require parents to be proactive in taking up the packages.

The Irish Dental Association (IDA) believes it would be better to maintain the targeted, schools-based approach, through an adequately funded public dental service.

IDA president Leo Stassen said they are concerned that erosion of public dental health services “is being accelerated” following publication of the new policy.

Writing in today’s Irish Examiner, Mr Stassen said the number of dentists employed by the HSE for school screening “has decreased by up to 30% in the last 10 years” and that “waiting lists of 24 to 30 months now exist for specialist treatments”.

“Furthermore, increasing numbers of children are only being offered examination and dental care for the first time at sixth class — instead of three age groups (first/second, fourth and sixth classes),” he writes.

“HSE documentation has confirmed this as policy in Cork, for example.”

The HSE denied there was a change of policy in Cork, but the Irish Examiner has seen a memo dated September 10, 2019, which states: “The 2nd class school screening and orthodontic extractions must be placed on a lower priority until the resource issue is addressed.

“If parents of children in 2nd Class enquire about screening appointments, explain that due to available resources, we are currently prioritising 6th Class.”

Writing in

The HSE said demographic changes have impacted on services. It said it plans to see 162,336 children as part of the programme.