Petition

The petition of the residents of the State of Queensland draws to the attention of the House: Queensland Health's cost cutting exercise to limit the number of Public Patients including Aboriginals, Children and emergency dental patients that dentists working in Public Sector Health Services can treat;

. the growing dental waiting lists resulting from Queensland Health's cost cutting;
. the need for the Public Sector Dental Workforce Scheme, which has been operational in other State and Territory public sector workforces since 2003, to be operational in Queensland; and
. the lack of dental services in Dirranbandi and St George and Roma.

Your petitioners therefore request the House to:

. stop limiting the number of public patients that dentists employed by Queensland Health can treat and to ensure provision of adequate funding to treat those public patients;
. immediately pass legislation to allow the operation in Queensland of the Public Sector Dental Workforce Scheme which is designed to alleviate shortages of dentists in rural and regional areas; and
. immediately allow the public sector dentist based in St George Dirranbandi and Mungindi and appoint two dentists to the vacant positions in Roma.