❓ QoN about WA public dental services after federal funding cuts. Minister McGinty details the Gallop Government's response, including a $2 million program and recruitment of overseas dentists for regional areas.
AnsweredQoN 134Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
As the minister is aware, the public dental service in Western Australia faced significant challenges when the federal Government withdrew over $10 million in funding for the provision of dental services to low income earners in Western Australia. Can the minister inform the House of the Gallop Government’s response to the problems facing dental care in Western Australia since it has been elected? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
I take some pleasure in advising the House that a significant turnaround is occurring today in the very long wait list for dental treatment in this State. The problem arose in 1996 when John Howard withdrew from Western Australia $10 million in funding, which had previously been made available as a joint commonwealth-state cooperative arrangement to provide dental care to low income earners and particularly elderly Western Australians. Earlier this year the dental wait list was at an all-time high, with 24 000 Western Australians waiting for subsidised or free dental care. The Premier responded immediately. He announced a $2 million program to address those people who had been patiently waiting the longest for dental treatment. The results of that are now starting to flow into the system. Two and a half thousand patients have accepted an offer of treatment and are progressively being given the dental treatment they have waited so long for. A total of 5 400 have been removed from the wait list and, as at 30 March, the wait list had decreased from 24 000 to 19 000. That is a very significant reduction in the number of people on the list waiting for dental treatment but I still find that completely unacceptable. The second thing of which I would like to advise the member is the very important issue of delivering dental treatment to people in regional areas. Western Australia, like places elsewhere in the country, has been suffering a shortage of dentists, particularly those servicing regional areas. Through a new scheme - the overseas dentists scheme - four new dentists have been recruited and work is being done to recruit more to service the regional areas of Western Australia. A full-time salaried dentist recruited from overseas will commence in Kalgoorlie in mid May. A dentist has also been recruited to work in Port Hedland and a married couple has been recruited, both of whom are dentists, to work in Albany. That will increase by two the number of dentists there. When the immigration formalities have been completed, which I hope will not take very long, we will be able to move forward in that area. We are still focused on other rural areas of need, particularly the Kimberley, Bunbury and Newman. The way forward in dealing with these health problems that beset the community is by a cooperative arrangement between the Commonwealth and the States. The days when people sat back and fired shots and slagged off at each other delivered nothing for the benefit of Western Australians, who need the public health system whether it be for dental care or other care. It is the way ahead in addressing health problems. In the area of dental care there has been a cooperative arrangement through the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs to deliver to Western Australia overseas-trained dentists. We also need to see a more cooperative arrangement for funding and service delivery. This Government will work towards that objective.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I take some pleasure in advising the House that a significant turnaround is occurring today in the very long wait list for dental treatment in this State. The problem arose in 1996 when John Howard withdrew from Western Australia $10 million in funding, which had previously been made available as a joint commonwealth-state cooperative arrangement to provide dental care to low income earners and particularly elderly Western Australians. Earlier this year the dental wait list was at an all-time high, with 24 000 Western Australians waiting for subsidised or free dental care. The Premier responded immediately. He announced a $2 million program to address those people who had been patiently waiting the longest for dental treatment. The results of that are now starting to flow into the system. Two and a half thousand patients have accepted an offer of treatment and are progressively being given the dental treatment they have waited so long for. A total of 5 400 have been removed from the wait list and, as at 30 March, the wait list had decreased from 24 000 to 19 000. That is a very significant reduction in the number of people on the list waiting for dental treatment but I still find that completely unacceptable. The second thing of which I would like to advise the member is the very important issue of delivering dental treatment to people in regional areas. Western Australia, like places elsewhere in the country, has been suffering a shortage of dentists, particularly those servicing regional areas. Through a new scheme - the overseas dentists scheme - four new dentists have been recruited and work is being done to recruit more to service the regional areas of Western Australia. A full-time salaried dentist recruited from overseas will commence in Kalgoorlie in mid May. A dentist has also been recruited to work in Port Hedland and a married couple has been recruited, both of whom are dentists, to work in Albany. That will increase by two the number of dentists there. When the immigration formalities have been completed, which I hope will not take very long, we will be able to move forward in that area. We are still focused on other rural areas of need, particularly the Kimberley, Bunbury and Newman. The way forward in dealing with these health problems that beset the community is by a cooperative arrangement between the Commonwealth and the States. The days when people sat back and fired shots and slagged off at each other delivered nothing for the benefit of Western Australians, who need the public health system whether it be for dental care or other care. It is the way ahead in addressing health problems. In the area of dental care there has been a cooperative arrangement through the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs to deliver to Western Australia overseas-trained dentists. We also need to see a more cooperative arrangement for funding and service delivery. This Government will work towards that objective.
I take some pleasure in advising the House that a significant turnaround is occurring today in the very long wait list for dental treatment in this State. The problem arose in 1996 when John Howard withdrew from Western Australia $10 million in funding, which had previously been made available as a joint commonwealth-state cooperative arrangement to provide dental care to low income earners and particularly elderly Western Australians. Earlier this year the dental wait list was at an all-time high, with 24 000 Western Australians waiting for subsidised or free dental care. The Premier responded immediately. He announced a $2 million program to address those people who had been patiently waiting the longest for dental treatment. The results of that are now starting to flow into the system. Two and a half thousand patients have accepted an offer of treatment and are progressively being given the dental treatment they have waited so long for. A total of 5 400 have been removed from the wait list and, as at 30 March, the wait list had decreased from 24 000 to 19 000. That is a very significant reduction in the number of people on the list waiting for dental treatment but I still find that completely unacceptable. The second thing of which I would like to advise the member is the very important issue of delivering dental treatment to people in regional areas. Western Australia, like places elsewhere in the country, has been suffering a shortage of dentists, particularly those servicing regional areas. Through a new scheme - the overseas dentists scheme - four new dentists have been recruited and work is being done to recruit more to service the regional areas of Western Australia. A full-time salaried dentist recruited from overseas will commence in Kalgoorlie in mid May. A dentist has also been recruited to work in Port Hedland and a married couple has been recruited, both of whom are dentists, to work in Albany. That will increase by two the number of dentists there. When the immigration formalities have been completed, which I hope will not take very long, we will be able to move forward in that area. We are still focused on other rural areas of need, particularly the Kimberley, Bunbury and Newman. The way forward in dealing with these health problems that beset the community is by a cooperative arrangement between the Commonwealth and the States. The days when people sat back and fired shots and slagged off at each other delivered nothing for the benefit of Western Australians, who need the public health system whether it be for dental care or other care. It is the way ahead in addressing health problems. In the area of dental care there has been a cooperative arrangement through the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs to deliver to Western Australia overseas-trained dentists. We also need to see a more cooperative arrangement for funding and service delivery. This Government will work towards that objective.
The second thing of which I would like to advise the member is the very important issue of delivering dental treatment to people in regional areas. Western Australia, like places elsewhere in the country, has been suffering a shortage of dentists, particularly those servicing regional areas. Through a new scheme - the overseas dentists scheme - four new dentists have been recruited and work is being done to recruit more to service the regional areas of Western Australia. A full-time salaried dentist recruited from overseas will commence in Kalgoorlie in mid May. A dentist has also been recruited to work in Port Hedland and a married couple has been recruited, both of whom are dentists, to work in Albany. That will increase by two the number of dentists there. When the immigration formalities have been completed, which I hope will not take very long, we will be able to move forward in that area. We are still focused on other rural areas of need, particularly the Kimberley, Bunbury and Newman. The way forward in dealing with these health problems that beset the community is by a cooperative arrangement between the Commonwealth and the States. The days when people sat back and fired shots and slagged off at each other delivered nothing for the benefit of Western Australians, who need the public health system whether it be for dental care or other care. It is the way ahead in addressing health problems. In the area of dental care there has been a cooperative arrangement through the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs to deliver to Western Australia overseas-trained dentists. We also need to see a more cooperative arrangement for funding and service delivery. This Government will work towards that objective.
When the immigration formalities have been completed, which I hope will not take very long, we will be able to move forward in that area. We are still focused on other rural areas of need, particularly the Kimberley, Bunbury and Newman. The way forward in dealing with these health problems that beset the community is by a cooperative arrangement between the Commonwealth and the States. The days when people sat back and fired shots and slagged off at each other delivered nothing for the benefit of Western Australians, who need the public health system whether it be for dental care or other care. It is the way ahead in addressing health problems. In the area of dental care there has been a cooperative arrangement through the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs to deliver to Western Australia overseas-trained dentists. We also need to see a more cooperative arrangement for funding and service delivery. This Government will work towards that objective.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I take some pleasure in advising the House that a significant turnaround is occurring today in the very long wait list for dental treatment in this State. The problem arose in 1996 when John Howard withdrew from Western Australia $10 million in funding, which had previously been made available as a joint commonwealth-state cooperative arrangement to provide dental care to low income earners and particularly elderly Western Australians. Earlier this year the dental wait list was at an all-time high, with 24 000 Western Australians waiting for subsidised or free dental care. The Premier responded immediately. He announced a $2 million program to address those people who had been patiently waiting the longest for dental treatment. The results of that are now starting to flow into the system. Two and a half thousand patients have accepted an offer of treatment and are progressively being given the dental treatment they have waited so long for. A total of 5 400 have been removed from the wait list and, as at 30 March, the wait list had decreased from 24 000 to 19 000. That is a very significant reduction in the number of people on the list waiting for dental treatment but I still find that completely unacceptable. The second thing of which I would like to advise the member is the very important issue of delivering dental treatment to people in regional areas. Western Australia, like places elsewhere in the country, has been suffering a shortage of dentists, particularly those servicing regional areas. Through a new scheme - the overseas dentists scheme - four new dentists have been recruited and work is being done to recruit more to service the regional areas of Western Australia. A full-time salaried dentist recruited from overseas will commence in Kalgoorlie in mid May. A dentist has also been recruited to work in Port Hedland and a married couple has been recruited, both of whom are dentists, to work in Albany. That will increase by two the number of dentists there. When the immigration formalities have been completed, which I hope will not take very long, we will be able to move forward in that area. We are still focused on other rural areas of need, particularly the Kimberley, Bunbury and Newman. The way forward in dealing with these health problems that beset the community is by a cooperative arrangement between the Commonwealth and the States. The days when people sat back and fired shots and slagged off at each other delivered nothing for the benefit of Western Australians, who need the public health system whether it be for dental care or other care. It is the way ahead in addressing health problems. In the area of dental care there has been a cooperative arrangement through the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs to deliver to Western Australia overseas-trained dentists. We also need to see a more cooperative arrangement for funding and service delivery. This Government will work towards that objective.
I take some pleasure in advising the House that a significant turnaround is occurring today in the very long wait list for dental treatment in this State. The problem arose in 1996 when John Howard withdrew from Western Australia $10 million in funding, which had previously been made available as a joint commonwealth-state cooperative arrangement to provide dental care to low income earners and particularly elderly Western Australians. Earlier this year the dental wait list was at an all-time high, with 24 000 Western Australians waiting for subsidised or free dental care. The Premier responded immediately. He announced a $2 million program to address those people who had been patiently waiting the longest for dental treatment. The results of that are now starting to flow into the system. Two and a half thousand patients have accepted an offer of treatment and are progressively being given the dental treatment they have waited so long for. A total of 5 400 have been removed from the wait list and, as at 30 March, the wait list had decreased from 24 000 to 19 000. That is a very significant reduction in the number of people on the list waiting for dental treatment but I still find that completely unacceptable. The second thing of which I would like to advise the member is the very important issue of delivering dental treatment to people in regional areas. Western Australia, like places elsewhere in the country, has been suffering a shortage of dentists, particularly those servicing regional areas. Through a new scheme - the overseas dentists scheme - four new dentists have been recruited and work is being done to recruit more to service the regional areas of Western Australia. A full-time salaried dentist recruited from overseas will commence in Kalgoorlie in mid May. A dentist has also been recruited to work in Port Hedland and a married couple has been recruited, both of whom are dentists, to work in Albany. That will increase by two the number of dentists there. When the immigration formalities have been completed, which I hope will not take very long, we will be able to move forward in that area. We are still focused on other rural areas of need, particularly the Kimberley, Bunbury and Newman. The way forward in dealing with these health problems that beset the community is by a cooperative arrangement between the Commonwealth and the States. The days when people sat back and fired shots and slagged off at each other delivered nothing for the benefit of Western Australians, who need the public health system whether it be for dental care or other care. It is the way ahead in addressing health problems. In the area of dental care there has been a cooperative arrangement through the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs to deliver to Western Australia overseas-trained dentists. We also need to see a more cooperative arrangement for funding and service delivery. This Government will work towards that objective.
The second thing of which I would like to advise the member is the very important issue of delivering dental treatment to people in regional areas. Western Australia, like places elsewhere in the country, has been suffering a shortage of dentists, particularly those servicing regional areas. Through a new scheme - the overseas dentists scheme - four new dentists have been recruited and work is being done to recruit more to service the regional areas of Western Australia. A full-time salaried dentist recruited from overseas will commence in Kalgoorlie in mid May. A dentist has also been recruited to work in Port Hedland and a married couple has been recruited, both of whom are dentists, to work in Albany. That will increase by two the number of dentists there. When the immigration formalities have been completed, which I hope will not take very long, we will be able to move forward in that area. We are still focused on other rural areas of need, particularly the Kimberley, Bunbury and Newman. The way forward in dealing with these health problems that beset the community is by a cooperative arrangement between the Commonwealth and the States. The days when people sat back and fired shots and slagged off at each other delivered nothing for the benefit of Western Australians, who need the public health system whether it be for dental care or other care. It is the way ahead in addressing health problems. In the area of dental care there has been a cooperative arrangement through the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs to deliver to Western Australia overseas-trained dentists. We also need to see a more cooperative arrangement for funding and service delivery. This Government will work towards that objective.
When the immigration formalities have been completed, which I hope will not take very long, we will be able to move forward in that area. We are still focused on other rural areas of need, particularly the Kimberley, Bunbury and Newman. The way forward in dealing with these health problems that beset the community is by a cooperative arrangement between the Commonwealth and the States. The days when people sat back and fired shots and slagged off at each other delivered nothing for the benefit of Western Australians, who need the public health system whether it be for dental care or other care. It is the way ahead in addressing health problems. In the area of dental care there has been a cooperative arrangement through the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs to deliver to Western Australia overseas-trained dentists. We also need to see a more cooperative arrangement for funding and service delivery. This Government will work towards that objective.
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