Dental state average bettered

LASTEST figures reveal Darling Downs’ hospitals are punching above the state average when it comes to waiting times – but they’re still lengthy.
No Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service (DDHHS) patient is waiting longer than two years to receive general dental care, according to the Queensland government’s quarterly information.
Better access to high quality oral health services has been a focus across the DDHHS over the past year, with significant investment in achieving the nationally recommended time for a dental assessment for eligible clients, DDHH board chairman Mike Horan said.
“A range of measures has been implemented that has resulted in reducing the number of people waiting to see a dentist for general care,” Mr Horan said.
“These include introducing a ‘voucher system’ for people to visit a private dentist to take the pressure off the public system, appointing new principal dentists in the Southern Downs, South Burnett and Western Downs, offering after-hours appointments in some areas and focusing staff resources to areas of great need,” he said.
The percentage of people seen on time for urgent, semi-urgent and non-urgent surgeries is also high, with close to 100 per cent of patients waiting no longer than clinically recommended for their elective surgeries.
Emergency department wait times are also slightly better, with 79 per cent of patients waiting less than four hours to be seen, up three per cent on the state average.
Thirty-eight people waited longer than clinically recommended for surgery in June 2014, down from 316 in March 2012.
“We expect to have this list cleared and all patients receiving their surgeries within the acceptable timeframes by the end of the year,” Mr Horan said.