The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Preet Kaur Gill)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster Central (Sally Jameson) for securing the debate. I commend her advocacy on this issue, and thank her for all her tireless work on behalf of her constituents in bringing it to the House's attention. I also know that my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher) asked a business question on the subject during the last parliamentary Session. It is clear that there is strong local concern across Doncaster, and I am immensely proud to respond directly today during my first debate as a Minister.
Let me begin by acknowledging what many constituents experience when audiology services are not working well. It is deeply frustrating when people need a hearing assessment, a follow-up appointment or a hearing aid repair and cannot get it within a reasonable time. For many, that is not just inconvenient; it can be isolating and can affect confidence, independence and wellbeing. Families and carers also feel the strain as they try to navigate appointments and periods without support. We will ensure that that changes. Like my hon. Friend, this Government will not stop until everyone has timely access to essential services such as audiology, as part of our mission to ensure that the NHS is fit for the future.
I want to start with Doncaster. I was shocked to learn from my hon. Friend that constituents have faced long waits, repeat appointments, and periods without working hearing aids. It is also concerning that some people have been asked to return because the right assessment or adjustment was not available on the first occasion. That situation is a lose-lose: it is distressing for patients, and it is an inefficient use of clinical time. Let me be absolutely clear: it is not acceptable, and it must improve. I will now set out briefly what has happened, what actions have been taken, and what further progress we need to see.
Doncaster’s audiology services have faced significant challenges, and I acknowledge that there were delays for hearing tests and follow-up appointments. I understand that one underlying issue has been insufficient numbers of staff who are fully trained to carry out all the specialist assessments. That created a backlog, with neighbouring services and external specialists supporting the most urgent cases. The NHS region has prioritised cases that involve safeguarding or developmental concerns. The trust has recognised those problems and has put in place a recovery plan, including upgraded facilities and improved booking and tracking. I am told that most adult hearing services have recovered. As for children’s audiology, the backlog is also shrinking, and outside specialists are helping until the local team complete their training. The hospital is also using new digital tools and regular review meetings to keep track of performance and risks. Further development on the recovery plan will mean an improvement in audiology services and patients returning to be seen on time.
The pressures that we have seen in Doncaster also reflect wider challenges across diagnostic and community services. When we talk about diagnostic audiology, we mean assessments to diagnose hearing and balance conditions. Audiology services are not only about diagnostics; for many people, this means long-term support providing rehabilitation, ongoing monitoring, treatment and support for a number of lifelong conditions, such as hearing therapy and hearing aid fitting and maintenance. That is why cutting waiting lists, including those for diagnostic tests, is a key priority for the Government.
We are backing that priority with investment to help services to recover performance and improve the experience for patients, including their experience of audiology. We are improving and transforming NHS audiology services, for instance through a national improvement collaborative to test changes that improve access and patient experience. Four NHS trusts took part in 2024-25, and a further eight have joined in the last financial year, including Somerset, Leicester, Oxford and Gateshead. We have learnt that when local teams have been empowered to drive change, that has led to improvements in services. Improvement depends on having the right kit and environment as well, which is why the Government have invested £13 million in audiology equipment and facilities across 66 capital schemes. We are also expanding access by delivering more diagnostics and assessment in the community.
Let me now turn to children’s audiology more broadly. As my hon. Friend said, it vital that children and young people can access timely, safe audiology services. The paediatric hearing services improvement programme was established in 2023 to address the risks to paediatric diagnostic audiology across England, and as part of the programme progress has been made in improving the paediatric audiology service in Doncaster. I welcome the 2025 review of children’s hearing services, undertaken by Dr Camilla Kingdon and with a response under consideration. NHS England is committed to reviewing the future direction for high-quality, sustainable children’s hearing services, with clearer end-to-end pathways and shared priorities. The workforce requirements for hearing services are also being considered as part of the 10-year workforce plan.
We know that clearer commissioning expectations help to drive consistency and equity across the country. NHS England is developing new commissioning guidance for integrated care boards and providers on safe, high-quality and equitable paediatric audiology, covering service configuration, workforce, estates, equipment, data and safeguarding. By taking action on multiple fronts, we will restore performance and ensure that improvement continues.
Finally, I turn to community audiology services, which are delivered in community settings and commissioned by integrated care boards, based on the needs of their local population. We know that community health services have the power to better align care with people’s day-to-day lives, but when it comes to community audiology, people are waiting far too long and there is local variation in services. That is why, for the first time, we have set a clear target to reduce long waits for community health services, including community audiology services. By 2028-29, at least 80% of activity across community health services should take place within 18 weeks. To support the shift to neighbourhood health, we have asked systems to increase the capacity of community health services and to work to standardise the provision of core community services.
I am most grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster Central for bringing forward this debate and for speaking up for her constituents. She mentioned the Doncaster school for deaf children and the Carr Fenton Foundation, and just how imperative it is that we deliver in areas like hers, which have such needs. We are committed to improving access through local recovery, national improvement support and more provision through community services.
To return to Doncaster, I have heard the concerns about long waits for repeat appointments and the problems with hearing aid provision. The trust has made progress, particularly for adult services. The paediatric service is improving and the waiting list is reducing, with external support in place while workforce training is completed. We will continue to work with local leaders to deliver timely appointments and reliable support, and we will go further still by reforming community audiology to shift more care from hospitals to communities, ensuring that our NHS is fit for the future.
Question put and agreed to.