THE state government must immediately release the report on the future of dental facilities in Footscray, says Greens MP Colleen Hartland.
Dental services for some of the west’s most vulnerable people are at risk after the government’s failure to fund the overdue relocation of the Western Region Community Health Centre (WRCHC).
Since March, Health Minister David Davis has been sitting on a report outlining options for the service’s future.
Ms Hartland will today move a motion in Parliament demanding Mr Davis table – by June 5 – the ministerial taskforce report on options for future provision of dental facilities at the clinic. About 2500 people are on a waiting list for care at WRCHC.
The Geelong Road clinic is hampered by equipment failure, poor lighting, lack of on-site sterilisation, while its narrow corridors are unable to fit an ambulance stretcher in emergencies. Acting chief executive Nicole Bartholomeusz told the Weekly earlier this month the service risked no longer being viable.
“If we experience equipment failure [and repairs are not possible] due to the age of the equipment or facilities become unsafe, we will need to shut down chairs and/or close our doors,” she said.
The taskforce was chaired by Liberal MP Andrew Elsbury and the report was sent to the health minister in March.
Last week, Mr Davis laid the blame for WRHC’s decay squarely at Labor’s feet, accusing western suburbs MPs of letting down residents for more than a decade.
He refused to commit to funding but said the report provided a “road map” for dental services in the western suburbs.
Budget figures show dental health care funding would be slashed from $403.7million to $396million next year.
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