Belfast Girl, 6, Forced to Wait Another 8 Months for Dental Treatment After a Year of Agony
A six year old girl from Belfast who has been suffering from severe dental pain for a year has been told she faces another eight months of waiting for treatment.
Connla Quinn has been in constant pain for the last twelve months due to dental abscesses, but her mother claims that she has been told that there are 70 children ahead of her on the waiting list. Speaking to the Nolan Show, Maria Brannigan said that her daughter is suffering on a daily basis and she is having to drain the abscesses every day.
In a statement, the Belfast Health Trust has apologised for the delay, and assured families that it is doing everything to cope with the increasing demand for child dental services in the city. Currently, there are around 350 children waiting for dental treatment under general anaesthetic.
Maria said that the situation is incredibly tough for the family to deal with. She feels helpless because there’s nothing she can do, and she can see the impact the abscesses are having on Connla. She struggles to cope with the pain, and you can often see the blood and pus coming out of her mouth. Connla’s condition is also affecting her ability to sleep, which is making her tired during the day and reducing her concentration levels at school. The pain is stopping her from sleeping, and this is impacting her performance at school, as well as her energy levels and her mood. The head has already sent a letter saying that she’s struggling to concentrate, but Maria doesn’t want to keep her off every day. Connla is also having problems eating and drinking.
The Belfast Health Trust said that it recognises that the situation is very difficult for children and parents, but the demand for treatment is so high that the trust is unable to deal with the backlog as swiftly as it would like. Every effort is being made to prioritise urgent cases.
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