November 24, 2016
Rather than having the longest dental waiting lists in regional Queensland, the South Burnett actually has some of the shortest.
A recent media report suggested the local region was only outranked by Brisbane Metro North and Brisbane Metro South for dental delays.
However, the figures quoted were for the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service, not the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service (DDHHS) which covers all South Burnett hospitals.
The correct statistics show the DDHHS has some of the shortest delays in Queensland.
The DDHHS annual report for 2015-16 shows there were no patients “waiting longer than the clinically recommended for routine dental treatment (less than two years)”.
“By the end of May 2015, the number of people waiting between one to two years was slashed from 1127 to 195, and people waiting one year or less from 5119 to 3199,” the report noted.
“That’s a 54 per cent decrease in the numbers of patients waiting for dental treatments.
“The total number of adult dental treatments provided this year was 40,242, an increase of 5898 treatments since last year.”
On August 31, there were 4732 people in the DDHHS region requiring clinical assessments, 918 needing priority care and 82 waiting for treatment that required a general anaesthetic. All were within recommended waiting times.
In comparison, in Wide Bay only 34 per cent of priority patients were within recommended waiting times.
The DDHHS provides public health services to a population of almost 300,000 people, extending from the NSW border to west of Goondiwindi, including all the South Burnett as well as the major regional centre of Toowoomba.
It has been working to reduce dental waiting times over the past few years by outsourcing some patients to private dentists, and increasing the frequency of visits by dentists to rural hospitals.
Dental waiting times in the South Burnett are also expected to ease further once the $4.4 million Farrhome renovations have been completed at Kingaroy Hospital.
The hospital has entered into a partnership with Griffith University to develop an oral health training area in the building which will have up to 10 dental students and six student dental chairs.
- Download DDHHS Annual Report 2015-16 (3.7Mb)
