Deaf News: Nine out of ten NHS commissioners don’t hold “bare minimum” information on hearing aid services

Around 95% of NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in England do not have the “basic minimum pieces of information” needed to pay for hearing aid services, according to Action on Hearing Loss.

The charity’s latest report, Valuing Audiology, saw Freedom of Information requests sent to all 195 bodies in the country. Of those that responded in full, just 5% knew about their spending on audiology, the number of hearing aid fittings and patient satisfaction.

Dr. Roger Wicks, Director of Policy and Campaigns at Action on Hearing Loss, said the results show “an alarming lack of oversight and accountability” from CCGs.

“Without what seems to be the very fundamentals of evidence-based healthcare commissioning – the most obvious of which is rigorous data collection – 94.6% of CCGs are displaying a grave failure in basic budgetary and service management.

“Without data on how many people are being treated for hearing loss or on the quality of services, commissioning for audiology in many parts of England is being done through apparent guess work, and we fear that under pressure CCGs may well continue to see hearing aid services as a soft target for cuts,” he said.

Action on Hearing Loss’ investigation also revealed three CCGs which require a high threshold of hearing loss before providing hearing aids, despite official guidance stating the decision should be based on need and not threshold alone.

North Staffordshire, Dorset and Cambridge and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Groups have all been approached for comment.

Responding to the report’s findings, a spokesperson for the health organisation NICE said: “NICE guidance recommends that hearing aids are offered to adults whose hearing loss affects their ability to communicate and hear, including awareness of warning sounds and the environment, and appreciation of music.

“Our recommendations guide local NHS services. They are not mandatory and the speed at which they are adopted will depend on the resources local NHS services have available and the other priorities they are dealing with.”

Action on Hearing Loss is now calling on CCGs to collect “accurate data” on a variety of issues – including spending and waiting times – as well as NHS England to collect and publish this information centrally.

NHS England has not yet responded to The Limping Chicken‘s request for comment.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and blogger from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and makes the occasional video about deaf awareness on his YouTube channel. He can also be found talking about disability, politics, theatre, books and music on his Twitter, and on his website.

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Update: In a statement, a spokesperson from NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group said: “In Dorset we do have a guideline of 35dB HL [decibels in hearing level] to help guide our clinicians on levels of hearing loss.

”However, we do offer hearing aids to patients who are below this threshold based on their clinical need and their personal preferences (some patients actually do not wish to try an aid).

“We work closely with our patients to identify the best solution for them and operate in line with guidelines from the British Academy of Audiology.”

They went on to add that a number of patient groups may be offered hearing aids when their average hearing loss in their better ear is below the 35db HL limit.

These include those under 21 in full-time education, people with blindness and individuals with tinnitus who have been referred to the audiology service.