LENGTHY waiting lists for dental care could be slashed following last week’s federal budget allocation of $515 million for dental services across the nation.
A total of $345.9 million will be spent over three years to cut public hospital dental waiting lists.
Health Department data for the June quarter last year showed a seven-month wait for general dental care at Western Region Health Centre in Footscray, while that queue soared to 32 months at Ballarat Health Service.
They are the two public dental clinics closest to Moorabool residents.
Ballarat Labor MP Catherine King said the funding was directly aimed at reducing the average dental waiting list of 18 months.
“That is extremely high and it’s completely inadequate for people to have to wait,” she said. “We need to get that timeframe down.”
Ms King said the dental funding would bring an added bonus for Moorabool and Ballarat because it was designed to lure dental professionals to
relocate to areas with prolonged waiting lists.
“You can’t increase the number of services if you also don’t deal with the workforce,” she said.
Western Metropolitan Greens MP Colleen Hartland said the funding was a result of the Greens’ persistence in lobbying for an overhaul of the dental system as part of an agreement with the minority government. ‘This funding boost will undo Baillieu’s neglect and reduce public dental waiting lists. The announcement couldn’t have come at a more opportune time as last week’s state budget showed an increase in public dental waiting times,” she said.
