Dentistry waiting list hits new high

THE state’s waiting list for dental care has hit 10,000 — climbing by more than 2000 last year — new figures released by the health service show.

By December last year 10,475 adults were waiting for general care or dentures from Oral Health Services Tasmania, the State Government’s online human services “dashboard” indicates.

The figure was up from 8143 in January last year.

The number of adults waiting for dentures alone dropped significantly from 543 in January to just 118 by December.

Health Minister Michael Ferguson said a new National Partnership Agreement on oral health had been finalised and would make a significant impact on waiting lists.

“We have been able to employ new dentists and the numbers of Tasmanians waiting for dental care is expected to decline as activity levels ramp up,” Mr Ferguson said.

“Labor left the dental waiting list at 15,333 as at March 2014, and this has been reduced.

“It’s important to point out urgent dental cases will always be prioritised and the number of those waiting for dentures has decreased significantly.”

Mental health readmissions hit 20 per cent in December, up from 14 per cent in the previous quarter.

The dashboard measures the percentage of patients dis- charged from an acute psychiatric inpatient unit who are readmitted within 28 days.

A report in 2013 found the national average was 15 per cent.

Tasmania’s Mental Health Services had 3,574 community and residential clients in December, the new figures show, slightly down on the September quarter.

Mr Ferguson unveiled a $95 million mental health package over six years during the election campaign, including new child and adolescent facilities.

Oppositon health spokeswoman Sarah Lovell said Mr Ferguson needed to do more to provide immediate relief to patients. “It is a tragedy that more and more Tasmanians suffering mental ill health are presenting at our hospitals because they have nowhere else to turn,” Ms Lovell said.

“Mr Ferguson is completely aware of this but he has no plan to open desperately needed mental health facilities and is failing in his duty to provide care for our most vulnerable Tasmanians.”

Despite the dashboard data being taken down the day before the Easter break, Mr Ferguson said the Hodgman Government had proved to be more open than the Labor/ Green Government of 2010-14.

“Unlike the former Labor/ Greens Government, we introduced the Department of Health and Human Services Dashboard to be open and transparent with Tasmanians,” he said.