NSW Health claim they did engage with Dubbo Council over lack of fluoride in water supply

In an interview with the Daily Liberal, a Western NSW Local Health District [WNSWLHD] spokesperson said council was responsible for maintaining and monitoring the fluoridation of the Dubbo water supply under the Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies Act 1957, to ensure community oral health is not compromised.

"Those responsibilities include effective system operation and maintenance, managing and rectifying any incidents that result in under or over-dosing of fluoride, and complying with legislative requirements and codes of practice," the spokesperson said.

In January 2019, NSW Health was notified by Dubbo Regional Council that fluoridation at the John Gilbert Water Treatment Plant had been temporarily ceased due to the system needing repairs.

"Following initial notification, NSW Health did engage with Dubbo Regional Council to determine the result of investigations, request progress updates and support response plans," they said.

"NSW Health will continue to support Dubbo Regional Council to recommence water fluoridation as soon as possible."

Councillor Joshua Black said the issue was a "disgrace" of public dental health and disclosure.

"We should never have been 3.5 years without fluoride in Dubbo's water supply. We all know about the benefits of fluoride in dental hygiene," he said.

"We are going to get this fixed and the sooner the better, but I just want to point out that NSW Health were aware of this problem for a fair while."

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Cr Black said NSW Health don't seem to subscribe to the 'if you see something, say something' mantra.

"It seems they are on the 'be alert but not alarmed' and don't say much," he said.

Deputy mayor Richard Ivey said he was happy that this issue was being acted upon and being rectified and resolved.

"It doesn't absolve the whole issue that for three years we didn't have fluoride in the water and yes there were reasons that will be taken on board to ensure they don't happen again in the future," he said.

Cr Ivey said he didn't think this issue rests with the current council.

"We had a mandatory requirements to report we had a problem with fluoride to NSW Health and if it is mandatory and we did report it, why didn't NSW Health jump up and down and say why isn't it fixed?" he said.

"For 3.5 years they didn't say that, that's their problem."

Cr Ivey was encouraged by the Chief Executive Officer addressing the issue in a prompt manner and was happy to hear the CEO had been researching why it occurred and what matters will be taken to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Mayor Mathew Dickerson reiterated the operational staff at the time followed all the correct procedures but it was a "failure" from the upper levels of council who knew about the situation and didn't take appropriate action.

"I would really like to apologise to the public on behalf of council that there hasn't been fluoride in the water," Cr Dickerson said.

"That's a basic expectation, that when you turn that tap on, that you have water to a correct standard and that includes having fluoride in the water."

Cr Dickerson said the current council was "left carrying the can" and the CEO who wasn't there at the time either is left fixing the problem.

"We will fix this problem, I assure the community we will fix this problem but it is disappointing from the past perspective," he said.

Councillors Pam Wells and Shibli Chowdhury said they were impressed with the swift action the current council has taken to rectify the issue.

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention and putting it out to the public because the public should know," Cr Chowdhury said.

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