Dental services waiting lists
Ms VALLENCE (Evelyn) (14:08): My question is to the Minister for Health. Maddy is 21 years of age and is currently in agony as a result of severe tooth pain. In October 2020 a dentist told Maddy her severely impacted teeth needed to be removed and an extraction appointment was made in November 2020. When Maddy attended her extraction appointment she was told that her procedure had been referred to a dental hospital and it would be 18 months before her extraction procedure would take place. It is now 21 months since Maddy was told her appointment had been deferred. She still has not had those teeth removed and is yet to receive any advice as to when this vital surgery will occur. Why does the government have no plan or strategy to reduce Victoria’s growing dental waiting list, which has currently more than 150 000 Victorians?
Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services) (14:09): I thank the member for her question, and there are a couple of points and opportunities that I want to alert the member to. Under our government we have continued to invest in public dental health services, and indeed we are investing $321.9 million over four years for our signature school dental program, Smile Squad. This is such a significant investment, one that is delivering very important health care and dental care to the children of Victoria, conveniently—
Ms Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, the minister may be reminded in terms of relevance. The question was not about the school dental program, it was about Maddy, who has been waiting 21 months for vital surgery.
Ms Blandthorn: On the point of order, Speaker, the member for Evelyn asks what action is being taken, and what action is being taken is in the process of being detailed. The minister was being entirely relevant.
The SPEAKER: Order! The minister was being relevant to the question that was asked.
Ms THOMAS: The reason why I am detailing our significant, substantial investment in Smile Squad and our school dental program is that by providing free dental health care to all children in government primary and secondary schools we will significantly reduce the demand on the public dental waiting lists. This is the inconvenient truth that those on the other side do not want to hear. No government has made as big an investment in public dental health services as our government. We are very proud of that. Once again, as always, if the member wants to provide me with Maddy’s details, I am very happy to follow up.
Mr Edbrooke interjected.
The SPEAKER: The member for Frankston is warned.
Ms VALLENCE (Evelyn) (14:11): Also to the Minister for Health on a supplementary question, as a consequence of waiting 21 months for her extraction surgery Maddy is in constant pain. She can only manage to work part-time, leaving her barely enough money to survive on. Maddy can no longer sleep or eat without being in pain, and her mental health is deteriorating rapidly. How is ruining a young person’s life an acceptable consequence of the Andrews government’s failure to lower the public dental waiting list?
Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services) (14:12): I absolutely reject the premise of the question. No government has provided as much investment in public dental health services as our government. We have a plan to deliver dental health care to every child at a government primary or secondary school in this state. This is about preventative dental care. This is about addressing the real issue of oral health, which we know is a real challenge for many in our community.
I might point out that some communities were systematically neglected by those on the other side when they had the opportunity to govern. When they had the opportunity to deliver services, they chose not to do that. They chose instead to cut services, cut public health services, and given the chance we know they will do it again.