‘We’ve got to train more orthodontists’
He said it was unacceptable people were waiting 12 to 18 months for specialist dental treatment.
“We have got to train more orthodontists,” said Prof Drumm, who pointed out that the HSE had recently invested a lot of money in improving the service.
A number of specialists were now in training under a contractual arrangement in Britain and a significant number would be returning to Ireland to practice.
But, he said, while there would be noticeable improvements in orthodontic services from now on, it could be up to six years before Ireland has a full cohort of trained orthodontists.
Prof Drumm also said there had been heavy investment made in the development of psychology services for young people.
The HSE has developed 100 primary care teams.
“Within those primary care teams we will be appointing psychologists who will be allied to the local primary care general practice services,” he said.
Speaking on RTÉ radio, Prof Drumm said this would end the situation where people must search for psychology services across complicated hospital systems.
He refused to state his preferred site for the new €500 million national children’s hospital. But, he said, a co-located hospital site would be the best choice.
“The provision of a co-located site would have very definite advantages in terms of continuity of care.”
The McKinsey report said the children’s centre should be on the site of a major adult hospital.
Competition among Dublin’s major hospitals for the right to build the new hospital has been intense.
Prof Drumm said it would be up to the expert review group to make the decision on the ideal site.
And, he said, while he was not opposed to the building of private hospitals on public hospital grounds, he did not want to see public consultants suddenly spending a significant amount of their time working in the private hospitals. Private hospitals would have to provide their own staff, he insisted.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
