Nationals MP for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, has called for more investment into public dental from the state government as the sector suffers the worst delays in dental care this decade, with the average wait time for public dental care in Victoria increasing to 26.7 months.
“It is disappointing, but not surprising, the wait times have blown out after the Andrews government cut funds to its public dental allocation in last year’s budget, which is there for all to see,” Mr Bull said.
“What would you think the outcome of this action to be? That is why we made a very significant pre-election commitment to increase funds to the service to help address the problem.
“The Andrews government remained silent in this area, but it is a problem they can ignore no longer.”
Mr Bull said the average wait at Central Gippsland Health Service was 18.9 months
“There is no dentist at Bairnsdale Regional Health Service currently, which is adding to the burden and worsening health outcomes of patients needing treatment,” he said.
“In some cases, we have heard from constituents who have been provided with vouchers to access to private dental services for urgent work, but there is no requirement for these vouchers to be accepted and, in some cases, they have been refused, leaving the patient with a dental dilemma.”
Mr Bull said the government must greatly increase its public dental allocation in this year’s budget to reverse the cuts of last year and provide an improved service across the state.
