Save Our Teeth Rally Wed 9 Apr 1pm Parliament

Media Release Tuesday 8 April '08 | For Immediate Release

Community Rally on steps of Parliament - SAVE OUR TEETH!

Approximately 300 Staff in the state Dental Health Service (DHS) will stop work tomorrow Wednesday 9 April to host a Community Rally on the steps of Parliament and protest Govt's failure to protect our children's dental health.

Staff shortages have forced 11 Dental Therapy Centres to close while others are facing full or partial closure in both metropolitan and regional areas. The services Adult Clinics provide are experiencing long delays and are not fully operational which means empty dental chairs and long gaps between appointments. Regional services are sparse or non-existent in much of the state.

At the Rally DHS Staff will explain how the Dept's rotating closures of school clinics is affecting dental health, staff moral and the future of the DHS. They will explain how DHS struggles to attract and retain staff due to poor salaries, inflexible working conditions, no career paths and excessive workloads.

Also speaking at the rally will be representatives from Health Consumers Council and the Caralee Community School P&C (a school in Premier Carpenter's electorate). Other speakers include Dr Kim Hames Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow spokesperson for Health, Brendan Grylls, Leader of WA Parliamentary National Party.

Please see the attached PDF for more or download it from:
http://www.cpsucsa.org/images/stories/pdf/news/DHSRally09AprilRelease.pdf