Parents furious as dental clinics in Trim and Enfield close down

Dental services for children in Meath have been reduced to emergency treatments only, as the HSE closed the dental clinics in Trim and Enfield last week. News of the closures met with a furious reaction this week from parents and public representatives who accused the HSE of violating the health, rights and welfare of children. While the Trim and Enfield facilities closed last week, the public dental clinics in Ashbourne, Dunshaughlin and Dunboyne have been suspended since August. According to the HSE, the clinics had to be suspended temporarily due to a shortage of dentists. Four out of the seven dentists posts are currently vacant. Angry parents have been discovering over the past few days that they cannot make appointments for routine treatments for their children and the school screening programme has also been suspended. Parent Liz Banfield-Fenton tried to make an appointment for her two children to attend the dentist in Dunshaughlin and was shocked to discover that there was no dental service available. "Apparently, there is no dentist available in Ashbourne, Dunboyne and Trim either and only an emergency service available in Navan. This is a total disgrace and just shows the lack of consideration that HSE has for children's welfare in this country. All children are statutorily entitled to avail of free dental care in Ireland and the HSE is obliged to provide this service," she said. Bernie Kenny, Ballivor, is another mother furious at the closure and the suspension of the school screening programme. Two of her children were referred for orthodontic treatment as a result of school screening and she believes that, without this service, her children's problems would not have been picked up in time. She now has a daughter who is due to be screened this year and is extremely angry and concerned that she may not receive this vital service. Ms Kenny is also angry at the fact that the HSE has not made a public announcement to let parents know about the closures and cutbacks. "I only discovered this when the orthodontist referred my son back to the dentists to have teeth removed to facilitate the orthodontic treatment. The dentist told me I was lucky to get the appointment as the clinic was closing," she said. Deputy Damien English hit out at the Government and the HSE for its failure to provide a full and proper dental service for children in Meath. "Both bodies seem happy to allow this frontline health service be run into the ground. Perhaps the Government want to close it down altogether," he said. "The staff in the public dental service face huge problems providing an adequate dental service to children due to severe cutbacks, lack of staff and resources to operate. Public dental care is not available to children under the age of 16 in Meath unless there is a major emergency," he said. "It is not satisfactory to have a run-down service struggling to operate for our children who are under 16 years of age. The situation has developed where families that are under fierce financial pressures cannot afford to pay for a private dentist while the public service has been all but abandoned by the Government," he said. Cllr William Carey said he was amazed to hear that the dental clinics in Enfield and Trim were closed, despite of the fact that the members of the Regional Health Forum who met last week had not been informed of the closures. "If this is the way the Government are cutting the service, it is an insult to the forum members who don't seem to have any function other than turn up to a meeting so that the Government can tick a box and show that there is a so-called democratic system in place," he remarked. "We all know money is scarce and that the dental service is breaking up, but to close down services in this manner is a disgrace," he said. Cllr Carey called on the Government to fill the four vacancies in the Meath Dental Service urgently. Deputy Shane McEntee condemned the move and said little or no notice was given and people were now faced with travelling to Navan should they have an emergency. He said the number of vacancies in the service confirmed what he was hearing every day from nurses, doctors and other heath professionals in the HSE . "They are under increasing pressure to provide adequate care for patients in extremely difficult working conditions. The purpose of the recruitment embargo was to reduce administrative staff not to reduce numbers of frontline staff. This latest action by the HSE is extremely short-sighted," he said. The HSE confirmed the delivery of dental services in Meath had been experiencing difficulties due to staff shortages and public dental clinics in Trim and Enfield had to be suspended temporarily. "During this temporary suspension, the service provision will be predominately emergency-based. Emergency referrals from these catchment areas will be seen in Navan. The HSE acknowledges the efforts of dental staff to achieve this and the cooperation of clients," said a spokesperson. She said there were four dental surgeon positions vacant in Meath and, under the Government moratorium on recruitment in the public service, prior sanction is required to fill these posts and this approval is currently being sought.