Dr Sumit Sachdeva, Director of Oral Health Services
Since his appointment in 2022, Dr Sumit Sachdeva has helped strengthen activity, quality, staff culture and business practices across Metro South Oral Health. His leadership centres on giving teams clarity, purpose and a shared vision. He works closely with teams across the service, ensuring staff understand how their individual contributions align with organisational values and support broader system improvements.
“Expectations on public health have changed,” he said. “We need to learn from history and future‑proof our systems.”
A major focus for Dr Sumit has been improving health equity. Working alongside clinicians, he looked closely at where communities were missing out on access to care.
In response, he introduced a hybrid model that brings together community clinics, school dental services and mobile dental vans. These vans now visit high‑needs areas and schools that haven’t received oral health care, strengthening partnerships with local communities and re‑establishing services where they had lapsed.
Small touches, like installing TVs on ceilings for young patients, have helped improve comfort and keep children engaged during treatment , making a dental visit a positive experience for patients and their families.
Rural and remote services hold special significance for Dr Sumit, shaped by nearly a decade working in Charleville, Cunnamulla, Quilpie, Thargomindah and remote Torres and Cape communities.
"Working in these communities gave me an understanding of the professional isolation our clinicians face, and the disruption to continuity of care caused by distance and geography,” Dr Sumit said.
When COVID‑19 created widespread workforce shortages, Metro South stepped in to support other regions.
This evolved into a formal network service model that Dr Sachdeva embraced immediately.
Now more than a year on, the model has been highly successful with more than 3000 patients receiving care and Metro South Health currently supporting four rural and remote HHSs.
Looking ahead, Dr Sumit is committed to continuing to strengthen the model of care through digital innovation, stronger community prevention programs, deeper stakeholder partnerships and a sustainable workforce plan. Dr Sachdeva continues to shape a more responsive, equitable and future-ready oral health service.