Pledges for $44m worth of new hospital equipment and $500 dentist vouchers have been made by Victoria’s major parties, as health became a key focus of the state election campaign.
The opposition leader, Matthew Guy, on Thursday said a Coalition government would make $500 vouchers available to 32,000 Victorians – or half the state’s emergency dental wait list – to access treatment at a private clinic.
“Providing those vouchers actually gives people options to get off that waiting list, which is now over 26 months,” Guy said while campaigning in Doncaster in Melbourne’s east.
“My plan to fix the health system isn’t just about hospitals – it’s also about dental.”
The vouchers would not be means-tested and participants in the scheme would need to apply via the health department.
Australia’s Medicare program does not cover adult dental treatments, but the Victorian government provides dental services through the Royal Dental Hospital Melbourne and community health services across the state.
Private dental clinics also provide care through three exisiting voucher schemes.
The Australian Dental Association’s Victorian branch backed the opposition’s voucher proposal, saying it would support the “ailing public dental system”.
“Waiting times to access public dental care have surged from 20.3 months in 2018 to 26.7 months in June this year,” said its branch president, Warren Shnider.
“These clinically unacceptable waiting times have a significant impact on the oral health of patients, which in turn compromises their general health.”
Shnider said Covid-19 lockdowns had prevented people from visiting the dentist and called on Labor and the Greens to support the proposed initiative.
Guy made the announcement in the electorate of Evelyn, currently held by Liberal MP Bridget Vallance on a 1.8% margin.
Meanwhile the premier, Daniel Andrews, was in the safe Labor electorate of Thomastown in Melbourne’s north to announce that a Labor government would spend $44m on eight new positron emission tomography (PET) scanners if re-elected.
The scanners are used to find and monitor the spread of cancers, diagnose heart disease, brain disorders and other conditions, and can detect changes in organs and tissues earlier than traditional CT or MRI scans.
While PET scanners are available for patients at a number of major metropolitan and regional hospitals, Andrews said many Victorians still had to travel to access the technology – including his late father, Bob, during his battle with cancer.
“I know my own father had to travel out of his local community so often to come to Melbourne for different treatment, but [he also had] to travel to Albury … for scans,” Andrews said.
“So this is all about making sure you get the best care with the best equipment free of charge as close to home as possible.
“It will mean thousands of patients and their families can get the care they need without that added level of stress of being away from home.”
The equipment will be rolled out across eight hospitals – Ballarat Base hospital, Frankston hospital, Goulburn Valley Health in Shepparton, the Northern hospital in Epping, Sunshine hospital, Werribee Mercy hospital, Warrnambool Base hospital and Wangaratta Base hospital – over four years.
The Greens on Thursday announced a $1.2m election promise to support a community-led gardening project, which hopes to boost the amount of gardens friendly to native bees, butterflies, beetles, flies, wasps and across inner Melbourne.
