Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase access to suitable hearing checks for everyone.
Free hearing tests are available through general practitioners. Larger pharmacies and opticians can also carry out hearing tests. As set out in the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with partners to ensure that appropriate hearing checks are carried out for children and young people with a learning disability, or who are autistic, in special residential schools.
NHS England and NHS Improvement’s guidance ‘5 ways to prevent hearing loss’ is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/-5-ways-to-prevent-hearing-loss-/