General News
11 October, 2023
MP slams failing public dental system
SOUTH West Coast MP Roma Britnell has called for increased funding to address the “shocking state” of the public dental system in the region.
SOUTH West Coast MP Roma Britnell has called for increased funding to address the “shocking state” of the public dental system in the region.
Figures from the Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch revealed South West Coast has an average wait time for general dental care in the public dental system of 38.1 months, a threefold increase on the 13.8 months average waiting time in 2014.
In addition, the average waiting time has surged to more than a year above the current state-wide average of 16.9 months.
Ms Britnell said she held deep concerns for the health of those waiting for care.
“In the three years the patient is waiting, they will often endure extreme pain, and I have been contacted by constituents who describe their suffering to me,” she said.
“We are talking about important treatments to relieve the pain that the almost 4000 South West Coast patients on the waiting list face.
“Pain that prevents them from eating certain foods, keeps them up at night and impacts their wider health.”
Ms Britnell said the South West Coast had not historically been an outlier for blown out waiting times for public dental care, and said the issue had worsened under Labor’s leadership.
“During the last Liberal Government waiting times for general dental care from the public dental system in South West Coast were 14 months, only one month higher than Victoria’s state-wide average,” she said.
“Under a decade of Labor, this waiting list has increased almost three hundred percent and is now 19 months higher than the state average.”
Ms Britnell said the pandemic was no excuse for the issue, as problems with public dental across the region were evident in 2019 prior to the arrival of COVID-19.
“The wait time in South West Coast almost doubled between 2015 and 2019, to more than two years,” she said.
“I have spoken with dentists in my area, and facilities are also not the issue.
“In 2014 over 9000 patients in South West Coast were treated, this total is now under 7000 patients per year.
“It is solely the failure of Labor that South West Coast residents are in this position, and Labor must act immediately.”
Ms Britnell said budget cuts to public dental in last year’s budget had prevented approximately 44,000 Victorians from receiving dental treatment, which she described as a clear mismanagement of public health.
“They should be nothing but ashamed of the suffering they are inflicting,” she said.