From time to time I talk about Orthodontics waiting lists in the HSE. This was just put online at the very useful website kildarestreet.com, which reports questions and answers from Dáil Éireann. Recently the TD Charlie McConalogue asked about the orthodontic waiting list in Letterkenny Hospital in Donegal.
The current Minister for Health, Simon Harris, gave an answer which is very difficult to understand. I have cut and pasted directly from the website so that I don't misquote it, though to be honest, I don't know if I could make it any less easy to comprehend.
The question was about orthodontic waiting lists and the grade of severity of the orthodontic problems and how long different people with different problems were waiting. I have done posts before about the severity of orthodontic problems, but if anyone needs a new one done soon, then please email the practice at the address below.
The answer talks about MaxilloFacial Surgery (that's jaw surgery), Oral Surgery, Dental Surgery and comes up with a table that doesn't actually mention orthodontics. It says there are "no children waiting under IDPC (I don't know what that means) specialties of MaxilloFacial..." and then later says there are "73 patients listed for outpatient appointments under the specialty of MaxilloFacial..."
If there's a mistake in saying MaxilloFacial instead of Orthodontics, then there are 73 people waiting on this list and 26 of them are waiting more than 2 years. Or maybe it's 146 as the number 73 appears twice.
I can't reproduce the table in the blog here, but you're welcome to check out the original text:
https://www.kildarestreet.com/wrans/?id=2018-12-11a.943#g945.r
Waiting List - Orthodontic Treatment
Letterkenny University Hospital
The NTPF have confirmed that there are currently no children at Letterkenny University Hospital waiting under the IPDC specialties of maxillofacial, oral surgery, or dental surgery, as of the 1st of November.
There are no children listed for outpatient appointments under the specialties of oral surgery or dental surgery.
The NTPF confirm that there are 73 children listed for outpatient appointments under the specialty of maxillofacial at Letterkenny University Hospital.
Outpatient referrals are triaged as urgent or routine. The Outpatient data with triage included for paediatric orthodontics at Letterkenny University Hospital is provided below.
