Survey finds two in five local people struggle to find NHS dentist

12.00.00am GMT Tue 25th Mar 2008

Lucy Care and the Lib Dems are campaigning for better health services in Derby

Two out of five people in Derby have struggled to find an NHS dentist. This was one of the main findings of a major NHS survey conducted in Derby recently.

Liberal Democrat campaigner Cllr Lucy Care has received over 1000 responses to her Derby NHS Inquiry that has been delivered across the new Derby North constituency.

Cllr Lucy Care said "I have had an excellent response to the survey. People have given me some really useful information on the state of the NHS in Derby. Hopefully this information can help us build better health services in Derby.

"There were a number of important findings from the survey. For example, there was concern about the current management structure, support for more screening to spot illnesses as early as possible as well as the difficulty people have finding an NHS dentist.

"Tony Blair promised in 1999 that everyone would have access to an NHS dentist. It is now almost ten years and still that promise is not a reality for many people in Derby."

Ends

Notes to editors:

Amongst the other main findings were

· Huge support for nurses and other NHS frontline staff. Nine out of ten people considered the 2% pay rise given to NHS staff by the government too little

· Two-thirds of people thought that major changes to local health services should be taken locally by boards of health professionals and members elected by residents

· One in four people said they knew someone who had had their homecare services, like meals on wheels, cut by the council

· More than nine in ten backed Lib Dem plans for more screening so that illnesses like cancer and heart diseases could be found earlier

· 7 out of 10 people questioned said they were dissatisfied with the government's handling of the NHS