Select Committee on Health Fifth Special Report


1  Introduction

The difference in hearing was remarkable, there was just no comparison, they brought me back into the land of the living.

Margaret Howard, digital hearing aid recipient

1. Hearing loss affects around one in seven people in England. People with poor hearing are more likely to be isolated socially and to suffer reduced quality of life. Fortunately, the problem is more easily addressed today than ever before because of the advent of digital hearing aids, which represent an enormous improvement on older analogue aids. While they are currently more expensive and take longer to fit, digital devices are more comfortable, more attractive and easier to operate than the older equipment.

2. However, high demand for hearing aids has led to long waiting times. Although precise information on numbers of patients waiting is not available,[1] waiting times for audiology services appear to exceed those of most other services. In some parts of the country patients wait more than two years to receive a hearing aid. Government waiting time targets exclude many audiology patients.

3. The Government has taken a number of steps to increase capacity, including negotiating contracts to purchase treatment for NHS patients from the private sector. The first patients will be treated under these contracts this year. However, it is unclear whether the measures announced to date will be adequate to reduce the waiting times to an acceptable level.

4. In view of concerns about the length of waiting times, and the actions of the Government, we decided to undertake a brief inquiry into audiology. Accordingly, we agreed to look at the Government's proposals and whether they are likely be effective. We also decided to consider what else should be done.

5. Our Terms of Reference were as follows:

  • Whether accurate data on waiting times for audiology services are available;
  • Why audiology services appear to lag behind other specialties in respect of waiting times and access and how this can be addressed;
  • Whether the NHS has the capacity to treat the numbers of patients waiting;
  • Whether enough new audiologists are being trained; and
  • How great a role the private sector should play in providing audiology services.

6. The issues raised are of concern to many different groups. We received 46 submissions from NHS staff, patients, recent audiology graduates, the independent sector, regulatory bodies and other professional groups. We held a single evidence session in March 2007, and took evidence from an NHS audiologist, a private provider and the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) in addition to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Departmental officials.

7. As this has been a short inquiry we have focussed on the key issue, namely the long waiting times for audiology services. We are aware that this Committee has rarely made waiting times the focus of its inquiries. In most situations, quality is as great an issue. In this case, however, we received little evidence of poor quality of care in audiology services. Given the levels of concern, we decided to focus on the provision of digital hearing aids and associated waiting times alone. Long audiology waiting times are of particular importance because new digital hearing aids are so effective and so quickly improve people's quality of life.

8. Following the announcement of our inquiry the Government finally published its long-awaited framework for audiology services. Although it was not included in our original terms of reference, we questioned the Minister about the framework and consider it in this report.


1   The Department only has information on patients waiting for a hearing assessment. However, the RNID told us that over 4 million people could benefit from using a hearing aid. Back


 
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