Thanks from VOHA

To all those people who joined the Victorian Oral Health Alliance in seeking improved dental health measures from the parties contesting the Victorian State Eelction - THANK YOU.

Many who were directly affected by poor access to care took advantage of VOHA's email facilities to send messages to candidates, as did numerous others who simply shared our concerns about the impact of poor dental care on the community.

To those parties that responded to the need and included specific dental measures in their health policy platforms, we thank you also. It was gratifying to see that these matters were recognised as serious public policy issues.

VOHA has a continuing role, and we plan to update our website soon to focus on measures we feel should be addressed in the Victorian Budget for 2007/08.

Election result - impact on dental services

With the return of the Labor Government, the major impact on dental services will be establishment of expanded clinical training facilities at Bendigo and some regional centres, associated with the creation of a new Bachelor of Dental Science course (BDSc) at LaTrobe University.

This measure is intended to train more dentists who will be willing to work in rural areas, and thus address the serious maldistribution of the dental workforce in Victoria. Its success will depend on allocation of Commonwealth Supported Places to the BDSc course, as the Victorian Government's commitment is limited to building training facilities rather than funding student enrolments.

These proposed additional training places come on top of additional places being offered at Melbourne University for dentists, dental hygienists and dental therapists. The combined impact of these additional places is such that there is no longer as much concern that in the medium to long term, Victoria will suffer a dental workforce shortage (although maldistribution could remain an issue).

The ALP did not commit any additional recurrent funds in their election platform to dental waiting list reduction, having announced significant reductions in the length of those lists during the election campaign. VOHA remains concerned that in many areas of the State, both rural and metropolitan, people are waiting unacceptably long times for access to basic dental care.

VOHA will now focus on advocating further improvements to public dental health via the next State Budget, which the new Labor Government will commence preparing almost immediately.

ALP response to VOHA

The Victorian Labor 2006 Election Campaign office today sent the following message to VOHA in response our oral health policy platform. To date this is the only party to have formally communicated its package of oral health policies directly to the Alliance.

"The Bracks Labor Government has increased public dental health funding by providing a record $103.6 million over the last two State Budgets. This additional funding has been used to treat more patients and improve access for children and the disadvantaged.

We have boosted dental health infrastructure increasing the number of community dental chairs by 66 per cent since coming to office in 1999.

This additional investment in dental health has seen the waiting lists for general dental health care reduced by more than 60 per cent over the past eighteen months. More than 200,000 Victorians received public dental care in 2005/06, an increase of 17,000 on the previous year.

There is a critical shortage of dentists, particularly in rural Victoria because the Federal Government has failed to train enough dentists in our universities.

To increase the number of dentists in rural Victoria, a re-elected Bracks Government will work with La Trobe University to establish a new dental school in Bendigo. The $14.45 million initiative will build a teaching laboratory in Bendigo and establish an additional 30 dental chairs in new dental teaching clinics in Wodonga, Mildura and at the new Melton Day Hospital."

Oral health policy commitments of other parties appear on the VOHA website - where these have been published or otherwise made available.

ALP announces expansion of Bendigo dental school

A media release issued by Premier Steve Bracks today, announced the expansion of the existing dental school at LaTrobe University's Bendigo campus, with the establishment of a new Bachelor of Dental Science course. The full text of the release follows:

"A re-elected Bracks Government will work with La Trobe University to establish a new dental school in Bendigo.

Under the plan, the Victorian Government would invest $14.5 million to establish the new dental school in Bendigo, and also fund an additional 30 dental chairs in new dental teaching clinics in Wodonga, Mildura and at the new Melton Day Hospital.

The initiative includes the construction of a $1.5 million pre-clinical teaching laboratory at La Trobe University in Bendigo.

Bachelor of Dentistry students will commencing in Bendigo in 2008 and will build on the current La Trobe University dental therapist and hygienist course.

The 30 new dental chairs in regional Victoria, plus 5 of the 10 additional chairs currently being built at the Bendigo Community Health Service will result in a 35 chair dental teaching facility that will, when fully operational, train up to 50 graduates a year.

The new dental chair facilities will be used by La Trobe University as clinical teaching facilities.

Once established, supervised students will provide dental services to around 13,000 patients in rural areas currently experiencing a shortage of dentists.

People living in Wodonga will have access to 10 new dental chairs, there will be 8 new dental chairs for people in Mildura and a new 12 chair unit will treat people in Melton.

There is a critical shortage of dentists, particularly in rural Victoria and this investment will help meet the challenge of providing all Victorians with public oral health.

The initiative also includes a Public Dentistry Traineeship Scheme which will provide financial assistance for students during their final two years of the five year program. In return, students will be required to work in rural areas for an equivalent period of time.

This is an innovative program to train and retain dentists in regional and rural locations.

There are less than 30 dentists per 100,000 people in regional Victoria, compared to more than 50 in Melbourne and providing first class dental health in country Victoria is a serious challenge.

Doubling the number of Dental Schools in Victoria, basing one in Bendigo and establishing the Public Dentistry Traineeship Scheme will provide a long term solution."

Labor overlooks oral health

The announcement yesterday by Premier Steve Bracks of $1.4 billion for rebuilt hospitals and $44 million to tackle outpatient waiting times, makes no mention of measures to address dental service problems still affecting many public dental patients - especially in rural areas.

While dental waiting lists have been reduced somewhat over the last couple of years, they remain unacceptably long in many parts of the State, with patients waiting up to five years in some rural centres.

Waiting times at all public dental agencies are shown at the VOHA website .

The unlucky 13 rural clinics with the longest waiting times as at June 2006 are:
Moe - 65 months
Churchill - 65 months
Sale - 60 months
Warrnambool - 55 months
Portland - 52 months
Ballarat - 47 months
Orbost - 46 months
Wangaratta - 44 months
Echuca - 41 months
Horsham - 40 months
Bendigo - 37 months
Bairnsdale - 36 months
Colac - 35 months

If the ALP intends to increase funding for dental services so that these continuing waiting list problems are addressed, it hasn't yet put a figure on that commitment.

Rural Health Alliance backs calls for improved access

The National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA) has backed calls by the Australian Dental Association and the Australian Council of Social Service for a joint Commonwealth - State scheme to address urgent dental access problems in rural areas.

In a media release issued on 25 October, the NRHA states:

"With national leadership and affordable new expenditure, Australia could fix the terrible state of oral and dental health among its adults. The Alliance is a strong supporter of the campaign promoted by ACOSS and the Australian Dental Association because people in rural and remote areas are among the worst-served and worst-affected with regard to oral and dental health. The NRHA’s number one priority presented to Minister Abbott last week was to improve access to dentists for rural people."

Chair of the Alliance, John Wakeman also noted that:

"The Alliance has a particular interest in the oral and dental labour force – a key determinant
of the national capacity to deliver more dental services that underlies the ACOSS proposal. Wherever there are shortages of health professionals they are most severe in rural and remote areas. There are far too few dentists and oral hygienists in rural areas and we hear horror stories, like young people having to have all their teeth out because of dental pain and the complete absence of preventive care.”