Assembly seeks urgent answers on Carmarthenshire orthodontic services

YOUNG people in Carmarthenshire may have to wait so long for orthodontic work that they will be ineligible to receive their treatment on the NHS by the time they are seen, it has been claimed.

Local Labour Assembly Member, JOYCE WATSON AM today raised local concerns about NHS Orthodontic Services in Carmarthenshire with the Minister for Health.

According to Orthodontic Consultant Dr David Howells, who has practices in Llanelli and Carmarthen there is no more NHS funding to see new patients across the county until April 2009 and those joining the waiting list for treatment and advice now will not be seen for at least two years.

Joyce Watson asked the Minister what action Carmarthenshire Local Health Board was taking to improve access to orthodontic services and asked the Assembly Government’s dental task and finish scrutiny group to look at the issue in Carmarthenshire as a matter of urgency.

Speaking in the Assembly Joyce said:

"This is a very serious matter. With waiting lists this long there is a danger that there will be young people in Carmarthenshire who might reach their eighteenth birthday and no longer be eligible for NHS funded treatment by the time they are seen".

In response, the Minister praised Joyce Watson for her ongoing campaigning on this issue.

Minister Edwina Hart said that of the £8.8m allocated to dental services in Carmarthenshire this year, only one fifth of the money had been spent on orthodontic services, and she agreed that this was a cause for concern and she would formally refer the situation to the Government’s expert group.

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