Dateline Dublin, October 18th 2007
Minister wants Chief Dental Officer and more Hygienists
The Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney T.D. announced on 18th October that she considered
the position of Chief Dental Officer "an important area where we need an advisor at a clinical level that is the CDO...
as far as not just our international participation is concerned but even on domestic issues it is an important position."
A decision is to be made very quickly on the post.
Minister Harney was speaking at the launch of the new Oral Health Policy initiative to an invited audience of dental professionals and interested parties.
She also alluded to forthcoming legislation governing the dental profession. "The current legislation is way out of date," she said.
"There’s a need for new fitness to practise provisions – we’re moving to a position where there will be a lay majority on the dental council –
for 2 reasons, its good for the profession and its good for inspiring public confidence in the profession."
The Minister expressed concern for service provision for the less well off in our society and urged a pragmatic approach in developing new policy.
"Long term and even medium term goals have to be around the area of preventative oral health measures and incentivising prevention.
In relation to skills mix, its not just an issue with oral health, its an issue generally in our health system –
we want the most qualified on our system to be doing the work that’s appropriate for them -
clearly there’s a huge role for dental hygienists and we need to make that a reality sooner rather than later."
The Minister also identified oral cancer as an area of concern:
"Oral cancer kills more people in Ireland than cervical cancer - 3 deaths per week and clearly oral health is not given the focus ……
even in cancer strategy it’s rarely actually mentioned – dentists have a huge role to play here – I certainly want to see how we can
involve the profession more in the cancer strategy."
Chris Fitzgerald's Presentation
Chris Fitzgerald from the Dept. of Health and Children spoke on the launch of the National Oral Health Policy.
He pointed out that much had changed since the last national strategy of 1994 – changes in demographics, new research data and the establishment of the HSE.
He spoke on the requirement for needs assessment, setting of priorities, meaningful indicators and a sustainable policy process.
The guiding principles behind a new policy were listed as evidence-based interventions, cost effectiveness, health gain,
and prevention as well as treatment. The policy should cover a revised regulatory regime, competition issues, manpower planning,
specialization and skills-mix, and a possible streamlining of existing state-funded dental schemes, as well as the integration
of oral health in the wider health care delivery system along with service delivery issues.
Mr Fitzgerald envisioned future treatment needs, referring to pre- and post-fluoridation populations, immigrants, and the elderly.
In terms of training and future treatment needs, he foresaw the work of oral health professionals changing with increased need for low and high
technology treatments respectively. New evidence-based guidelines were to be introduced, with greater emphasis on delivering care at the
appropriate level in the context of the challenge of future manpower planning.
Mr. Fitzgerald spoke of the need for a new Dentists’ Act, with enhanced powers for Dental Council to ensure patient safety,
and a look at regulation allied oral health professionals.
The time frame for all this aims at the preparation of an Analysis Document and Public Consultation completed by the end of the year
(2007) with a Draft Policy by July 2008 and a Final Report shortly thereafter.
 |
 |