By Matthew Sims
IPC Health’s Hobsons Bay dental care waiting lists have returned to normal post-COVID conditions, according to IPC Health chief executive Jayne Nelson.
She said a recent dental wait list blitz had reduced its general dental waiting list reducing to about 12 weeks across their services, with the current number of people waiting within the Hobsons Bay area at 23 people with an average wait time of about 16 days.
“IPC Health has been involved in the dental wait list blitz initiative collaborating with Dental Health Services Victoria (DHSV) from the beginning of the year,” Ms Nelson said.
“Most of the activity commenced in late February and early March.
“This dental waitlist blitz was possible with support via additional funding from the Victorian Department of Health.”
Ms Nelson said the longest wait time for IPC Health Hobsons Bay general dental care patients was currently 1.35 months.
“Without the additional funding from the Department of Health, IPC Health’s dental waitlist list and waiting times would still be well over target,” she said.
“We’re currently working on reducing our priority denture waitlist.
“With a fast growing population in the western region of Melbourne, the ongoing challenge will be supply versus demand and sufficient funding/infrastructure to meet that demand.”
Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch chief executive Associate Professor Matt Hopcraft said the ADAVB has been calling on the state and federal governments to prioritise the importance of dental health and boost funding to tackle long waiting lists, as the $27 million blitz was only a “band-aid”.
“Without ongoing consistent funding, we are going to see wait lists increasing again,” he said.
“It is vital that the Victorian government ensures that we have a strong public dental sector so that vulnerable Victorians can access necessary care.
“Public dental waiting times have now increased on average to 26.7 months (as of June 2022) across Victoria, an increase of four months since the same time last year and the worst delays in care this decade.”
