Liz welcomes new dental surgery - now it's Bishops Waltham's turn

10.39.59am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 19th Jul 2009

Prospective MP Liz Leffman has welcomed the opening today (July 20) of a new dental surgery for 6,000 NHS patients in Hamble - and renewed her call for a surgery in Bishops Waltham.

The Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Meon Valley said: "I regularly receive emails from people frustrated they cannot register with an NHS dentist. The Copse Lane surgery is fabulous news for many residents who have struggled to find one in recent years.

"But there are still many excluded from the service. If you live in Bishops Waltham, Whiteley or any village in the Meon Valley, getting to Hamble is no laughing matter without a car - and even with one, it is a long way to go with a toothache.

"We need a surgery in Bishops Waltham - pure and simple."

Liz has campaigned about the lack of local dental care since 2007, and celebrated in May after news that two new surgeries were planned for the Waterlooville area.

Her battle for a Bishops Waltham surgery was featured by the BBC last September in a documentary fronted by Dom Littlewood.

The last local Lib Dem survey found that more than half the people in Whiteley, Wickham and Southwick could not find an NHS dentist, while in Clanfield, 64 per cent of people were in the same situation.

"Everyone deserves decent dental care," added Liz. "It is high time the PCT sorted out this problem and committed to a surgery in Bishops Waltham too."