Volume 67 Number 4 August/September 2021
MEMBERS’ NEWS
Beyond rescue? Is the medical card scheme in a death spiral and what can be done to save it?
are being displaced to cope with the overflow of adult medical card patients. Our dental hospitals are also struggling in a very big way and, of course, all public service settings are also impacted by Covid-19. So, the invitation to preliminary discussion recently may have been an indication that the Department of Health and the HSE may be finally waking up to the scale of the crisis. However IDA representatives believe that on the basis of that initial meeting, the current crisis will get a whole lot worse before things get any better.
As fewer and fewer dentists operate the Dental Treatment Services Scheme (the DTSS or medical card scheme), we wonder if the continued failure to Lack of partnership address this crisis reflects complete lack of interest on the part of the Nothing less than a fundamental review is required, and responsibility for Department of Health, or worse, that a calculation has been made that the resolving this problem rests with the Department of Health and the HSE. They Scheme will first have to collapse completely to force radical reform. decided many years ago that they did not want to partner or conclude As ever, patients are caught in the crossfire and this leaves many of the 1.5m agreement with professional representative bodies such as ours and would eligible medical card patients without ready access to dental care. merely offer to consult rather than negotiate with the professions. They tried The IDA is being contacted by media, patients and politicians across the to foist change on the medical profession in a disastrous experiment before country where there are no dentists left to see medical card patients. Bantry, learning that they needed the active engagement and support of the Tralee, Killarney, Waterford, Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Portlaoise, Roscrea representatives of medical doctors to have any chance of implementing and Dundalk are among the many large towns facing a critical shortage of successful reforms. participating dentists. In addition, there are significant parts of big cities such The key to the new policy of diktat rather than partnership was for the as Cork, Dublin, TheGalway Journal and Limerick is FREE with very in real printed shortages. format TO ALL Department MEMBERS and HSE of tothe establish Irish aDental position as Association. a credible and trustworthy Medical card patients have to wait longer and travel further to be treated. leader and manager of healthcare provision. In the case of oral health, no There is increasing Members pressure have on HSE thedental option services, towhere receive children’s their services ‘Members’ workingversion’ dentist believes electronically that they have only succeeded if they in this basic prefer. requirement.
does the IDA come in? CLICK To join theDrIrish Dental Association phone (01) Where 295 0072 or email info@irishdentalassoc.ie Caroline Robins In these circumstances what is the role of the IDA? Our job is to fearlessly
and Mr Fintan Hourihan
HERE
advocate for our members, to guide them but also to offer to act as an TOadviser ORDER YOUR to the Department of Health. That’s an offer that was rejected in DIGITAL the AAnon-member non-memberdentist dentistcan canregister registerto toreceive receivethe the preparation abridged abridged of the electronic oral electronic health strategy, edition edition which apparently at at no noremains cost costofficialCOPY State policy even though there has been no attempt by the Department to promote or subscribe to receive the hard copy or sell atitsa recommendations cost of ¤120toorworking ST£100. dentists. In fact, there has been no attempt made to even inform working dentists of the policy, which was Journal of the Irish Dental Association | Aug/Sept 2021: Vol 67 (4) 199
