Blow for Moate as HSE announces closure of dental clinic

Services in Moate suffered another blow this week as the HSE confirmed the closure of its dental clinic in the town. The facility, located in Newtown, Moate, catered for schoolchildren from the locality. The service is now being transferred to Athlone. Discussing the move, a HSE spokesperson said the service catered for "eight schools, and seven of these schools are closer to Athlone than Moate." In statement issued yesterday (Tuesday), the HSE said it had introduced new decontamination standards in its dental facilities. "The dental clinic in Moate has been audited under these new standards and it is no longer feasible to provide high quality dental care at this facility," said the statement. "The plan, therefore, is to transfer the patient load to the HSE dental unit at the Athlone Hospital as an interim measure. By early 2014, a new 'state of the art' dental facility should be completed at Clonbrusk in Athlone. At this stage all the Moate dental patients will be transferred to this location." It was stated that the clinic in Clonbrusk was "a future-proofed facility where high quality dental care will be provided to patients in an environment that will meet HSE decontamination standards right through to the end of the decade and onward into the years ahead." The HSE dental service in Athlone "will aim to deliver a similar level of service to what was provided at the Moate clinic." It will consist of a routine dental service to all children in designated classes in primary schools - 1st, 4th and 6th classes - along with emergency dental care to all children up to their 16th birthday.