New clinic provides enhanced services

ACT Minister for Health, Katy Gallagher MLA, said today that a new Oral Maxillofacial and Ear Nose and Throat Clinic would provide the ACT community with enhanced access to specialised services for diseases of the face, jaw, mouth and teeth, oral cancers and facial traumas.

The Minister was speaking at the opening of the new clinic at the Canberra Hospital.

“With the establishment of an Oral Maxillofacial (OMF) clinic in Canberra, it was decided that the Ear Nose & Throat (ENT) clinic should be collocated in the same unit as they are in many ways complementary,” Ms Gallagher said.

“The new clinic brings these services together with enhancements, including a new state-of-the-art Audiology Booth.

“The new booth in the ENT Clinic provides the community with another avenue for hearing tests and will significantly reduce waiting times for these services,” Ms Gallagher said.

“Prior to the installation of the booth, patients had to undergo hearing tests either privately or at the Australian Hearing Service (AHS).

“The new Oral Maxillofacial (OMF) clinic will provide quality care for patients with a number of conditions. In the past patients with some of these conditions were required to travel to Sydney for treatment,” she said.

“We offer a number of OMF clinics on a weekly basis - general clinics on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and more specialised clinics monthly, bi-monthly and quarterly attended by Paediatric Dental Surgeons, Orthodontic Specialists and OMF Surgeons.

“Every Tuesday, a doctor from the clinic attends the Phillip Community Health Centre to assist the Community Dental Team,” she said.

The OMF Unit provides on-call services for facial and dental trauma 365 days a year and has seen over 100 trauma patients this year.

25 November 2009