Qld dental waiting times blow out by 30 per cent

As if the Covid-19 crisis and ambulance ramping weren’t enough, another health crisis has hit Queenslanders where it hurts.

Queensland’s dental waiting list has exploded 30 per cent over the past six years, prompting the Opposition to claim the Government had failed to plan.

There were 114,405 people on the public wait list in December 2015 compared to 148,024 in May this year.

Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates said the issue had existed before the pandemic hit.

“In 2016, Queensland Health treated 346,502 dental patients,” she said.

“In every year since then, they’ve haven’t come close to reaching that figure.”

Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates

But acting Health Minister Steven Miles hit back, saying the government had made significant improvements since the LNP was in power.

“There has been a significant reduction over 10 years in the number of people waiting more than two years for public dental services,” he said.

“Between 2015-16 and 2021-22, an average of 98 per cent of all patients on the general dental waiting list in Queensland were seen within the maximum recommended time of two years.

“In 2013 when the LNP was in power, 45 per cent of patients were waiting longer than two years to access public dental services in Queensland.

“Thanks to the efforts of Queensland Health staff, there are 6392 or 4.7 per cent fewer patients waiting for a dental check-up and general dental care than at the same time in 2021.

“Our improvements to public dental wait times has been achieved despite an increase in the number of people accessing public dental services, an ongoing pandemic, and a 30 per cent cut to public dental funding delivered by the federal LNP.”

In December 2015, 26,250 people were treated, bringing the wait list down to 114,405.

However in May this year, 22,812 people were treated leaving 148,024 waiting.

Ms Bates said the wait list could cause long-term problems for patients and the public health system.

“After three terms in power, the state government can no longer deliver basic services for Queenslanders,” she said.