Mayo dentists are 'walking away' from medical card scheme

A Castlebar councillor has claimed that dentists are not offering treatment to patients with medical cards and are either leaving or not joining the scheme at all.

Cllr Michael Kilcoyne sought datat at the recent meeting of the Regional Health Forum West and North West on the number of dentists in Mayo signed up to the Dental Treatment Services Scheme. He was advised that ten dentists in Mayo offer treatement, of which four are based in Castlebar, two in Westport, and one each in Belmullet, Claremorris, Ballina and Crossmolina.

Cllr Kilcoyne asked HSE management: “Is it the Department of Social Welfare or the Department of Health that is involved here because certainly that is only a fraction of dentists who are working and I think there should be an attempt by the Department in charge to increase the number of patients being treated. The Department of Social Protection generally compensates for eye tests but in the case of dentists, they seem to have walked away from the public dental scheme in a big way and I wonder is there any way the HSE can coax them to offer treatment under the medical card scheme, because the dentists would say it is the Department that won’t give them enough money, but the Department is saying they are paying them what’s reasonable, and in in-between, Mary and Johnny are left with a toothache.” 

Mayo Area Health Manager Mary Warde said that two additional dentists have been added to the list, alongside one resignation, while a third applicant is being processed, and told Cllr Kilcoyne: “The payment is an agreed fee under the dental treatment scheme and my understanding is that the figure was reached in discussion with the representative body for dentists, but it is up to dentists to come forward, as they are private contractors.” 

She said the HSE tries to accommodate dental patients in emergency situations "with our own people, but that would be an exception”.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.