Dental clinic
Picture for representation Reuters

Children in Ireland's Health Service Executive (HSE) facility were risked by a terrible mishap at the clinic when drain cleaner got mixed with water used for treatment. Forty-three children were affected by the incident in the dental clinic, which is located at Bindon Street in Ennis, County Clare.

The incident occurred on Wednesday and was detected on Thursday. Five surgeries were in progress when the mishap occurred. The clinic has been shut down temporarily after the incident.

According to the HSE, early indications denoted that a cleaning product had somehow contaminated the water that was used during treatment. The water is ideally supposed to be mixed with an approved product of dental hygiene.

HSE Mid West chief officer Bernard Gloster told Mirror.uk, "This is so regrettable and unfortunate.

"I want to apologise for any concern or upset caused to the children and their families.

"We are taking all of the necessary steps to ensure they are supported and have adequate information. We will be conducting a full review to establish all of the facts.

"I am grateful to all of our management staff and clinicians who worked very hard late into last night to respond to this incident."

The Dental Council of Ireland has a set of rules under Professional Behaviour and Ethical Conduct, which states that such accidents are the responsibility of the clinic staff as it is there duty to ensure patients' safety and protection against infection.

Dental Council Code of Ethics
Code of Ethics Screengrab from www.dentalcouncil.ie

The HSE facility is expected to reopen on Monday or Tuesday.