On 28 July 2023, Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina visited the Division of Stomatology of the University Medical Centre in Ljubljana, where he talked about the problems connected with providing oral healthcare for children and adults with special needs with Business Director Uroš Prikl and Medical Director, Associate Professor Dr Martina Drevenšek, doctor of dental medicine. Namely, the Ombudsman was informed that people with special needs are denied individual services on the primary level until they are finally referred to the Clinic. He warns that the risk for a poorer oral state of people with special needs is greater, hence it is essential that their oral treatment is accessible and immediate.

Medical Director Drevenšek observed that the field of stomatology has been systematically neglected for several decades, especially care for people with special needs as well as the elderly and some other vulnerable groups. She added that, in relation to doctors’ skills, there remain challenges in the approach to working with people with special needs and emphasised the efforts of all who nevertheless try to perform the service with both an appropriate approach and according to the professional guidelines. She also stressed that the financial assessment of treating patients with special needs must be examined, since working with this group of patients requires special knowledge and demands more time than usual to perform a service. She and the Ombudsman agreed that special attention would have to also be devoted to prevention – also with adults – and accessibility to the widest possible basket of dental care services for these people, which should completely be covered by the compulsory health insurance. Business Director Uroš Prikl presented to the Ombudsman the planned investments in the Clinic that would enable the improvement of the range of services offered to patients and outlined some of the obstacles in their realisation.

The Ombudsman expects the Ministry of Health, Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia, and the National Institute of Public Health to immediately open a dialogue with experts in oral care about how to approach improving access to oral care in general and especially for people with special needs, and to prepare concrete solutions.