The Queensland Labor State Government of Anna Bligh should be hanging their heads in collective shame at the disgraceful situation that the Aged Pensioners have inherited from the " party for the people"

The medical waiting lists have never been longer (regardless of the lies the Minister utters in his own defence) with most patients languishing on the Category 3 (Death List - most patients will die of old age or from their medical problem before attaining Category 1 status) as the hospitals try but fail to keep pace with the ever increasing influx of "Mexicans from across the border", a cunning little ploy enacted initially by Beattie, which would in his words, "bring a massive injection of money and wealth to the Sunshine State!" and continued by Bligh, who in typical dictatorial style concentrates the State`s expenditure on paving the streets of Brisbane with gold, whilst ignoring the plight of the Regional areas who are now suffering the effects of these Labor policies, which have benefited them by way of saving on spending in these areas and forcing the constituents to carry the can by way of drastically increased rates, fees and charges!

Any Aged Pensioner needing Dental Care can now look forward to finding around $150 for a simple tooth extraction at a private practitioner as the Queensland Public Dental Clinic is virtually defunct and has dispensed with waiting lists for treatment and now follows a policy of
"triage" ( assessing a patient`s condition and then placing them on a priority list ) which can be disastrous in the case of a regional area that has one dentist who is accessible for a day and a half, as is the case in the Burnett area of Queensland.
This policy alone can be life threatening in the case of a patient with a decayed tooth who is in need of urgent attention, as in some cases the patient may have a prosthesis fitted or even artificial heart-valves making them prone to serious infection and probably a situation resulting in premature death!

We continually hear the cries that the State cannot get Dentists to work in the Queensland Health system, simply because they all want to be private practitioners! The simple alternative is to offer Dental Students a Government Funded degree, or assisted degree in exchange for a signed contract accepting a number of years " compulsory" service in the regional or remote areas as a condition of funding,.....in other words the dental student would be indentured to the Government for a set period of time!

This whole situation is unacceptable and steps HAVE to be taken by either the Queensland State Government or alternatively the Federal Government to genuinely resolve the problem before we are faced with a Dental tregedy, the like of which is becoming inevitable!