Fianna Fáil TD for Roscommon/Galway Eugene Murphy has said dental services at Roscommon County Hospital are bursting at the seams as there are over 400 people on an orthodontic waiting list, many of whom are children.
“This latest figure proves that existing dental services at Roscommon County Hospital are bursting at the seams as there are currently 410 patients on an orthodontic waiting list in Roscommon Hospital at grade 4 and 5. Many of these patients are children who have overbites, misalignments, crowded teeth, etc and they are in desperate need of attention. This is simply an outrageous and unacceptable situation.
“These families and children are not asking for preferential treatment or to skip the queue; they just want to see their children having access to the services that are supposed to be available in the public health care system. Many of the 410 patients have been left languishing on an ever-growing waiting list and urgent action is required to address this issue.
“I have raised this matter with the Minister and posed a number of parliamentary questions in relation to the matter and the HSE has indicated that a new facility for dental services in the area including digital radiography will open in the Roscommon Primary Care Centre in August. The Minister needs to ensure that this opens on schedule with no delays as the existing services are already under pressure,” said Deputy Murphy.
The Fianna Fáil TD also raised the issue of a vacant dental surgeon post in the South Roscommon dental services and he noted that a candidate had in fact accepted this post and is currently going through the appointment process.
