In an unfortunate piece of timing, MPs in Queensland have voted themselves a pay rise at about the same time Queensland Health has announced a plan to close five school dental clinics on the Gold Coast, and replace them with a new mobile dental van.
Unions and parents have labelled the replacement mobile services as “glorified Mr Whippy vans”.
The decision to close the onsite clinics comes after each was found in need of an $150,000 to $200,000 upgrade, a cost Queensland Health deemed prohibitive. Instead, the department will increase its Gold Coast fleet of mobile dental vans from 15 to 17 by the end of the month, including a new $800,000 vehicle recently delivered to a Coomera primary school.
The department has also funded a costly refurbishment of 14 of its existing vans and has insisted oral health services on the Coast will not be cut.
However, the state’s Public Sector Union has described the plan as a short-sighted cost-cutting measure. A representative of the union has said the union would campaign at a political and community level to keep the clinics open, describing the cost to refurbish them as a drop in the ocean.
“Clearly this is about a long-term reduction in service to children in the schools of the Gold Coast catchment area,” regional organiser Dennis Mullins said.
Queensland Health Community, Sub-Acute and Aged Care Services executive director Robert Pegram said the five onsite clinics did not provide the best space or design for staff and patients.
The onsite clinics are open four days a week while on the fifth day, students who need dental care can access a mobile van set up at nearby schools.
“In schools with a fixed dental clinic on the premises, approximately 20 per cent to 50 per cent of children access the available service, whereas the rest have their oral health needs met elsewhere,” Mr Pegram said.
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