Lib Dems in Eastbourne to raise dentistry at conference

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 11th Sep 2007

Liberal Democrats from Eastbourne & Willingdon are travelling to Brighton this weekend to raise concerns about local dentistry at the party's conference.

Stephen Lloyd, parliamentary challenger, will be meeting Norman Lamb MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Health, to discuss difficulties residents of Eastbourne are having in being able to access an NHS dentist.

Stephen Lloyd said, "Many local people have told me of the difficulties they are having with accessing an NHS dentist. Only a month or so ago I was called by a lady who lives in Hampden Park who had a really agonising tooth ache. She was told that she needed root canal treatment but the earliest a dentist would be able to see her under the NHS was the end of September. This is clearly unacceptable and makes a mockery of Labours hype about all the extra money they have put into the NHS.

"Last year the government promised to sort out the problem of lack of dentistry here in Eastbourne & Willingdon and throughout the rest of the country. A new contract was introduced for dentists in April 2006 that was meant to address many of the problems.

"But the reality is that the contract has failed to stop the decline in NHS dentistry. One in twelve dentists have opted out of the NHS since the contract came in.

"Liberal Democrats are leading the call for reforms to be introduced to the contract so that dentists are encouraged to stay in the NHS.

"I want to bring the problems suffered by residents of our town to Norman Lamb's attention so that he can build up a picture of the problems of NHS dentistry across the country."

A study published by the University of Dundee in September 2007 suggests the NHS dentistry crisis is set to get worse. One in five dentistry students said they would shun NHS work once they had qualified.

A motion will be debated at the Liberal Democrats' conference on Monday 17th September calling for a reform of the current dentistry system so that services more readily meet patients' needs.