Disability Aids

(asked on 22nd January 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance is given to GPs and CCGs on the availability of augmentative and alternative communication devices.


Answered by
Caroline Dinenage Portrait
Caroline Dinenage
This question was answered on 28th January 2020

Information on the funding is available for people who need access to augmentative and alternative communication devices and estimated the number of people who have accessed augmentative and alternative communication devices which have been funded publicly in each of the last five financial years is not held centrally.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for creating guidelines on identifying, treating and managing illnesses and reviewing new medical devices for adoption in the National Health Service. For example:

- NICE issued guidance in June 2018 on hearing loss in adults: assessment and management. This includes recommendations on when hearing aids should be offered, how they are to be prescribed and fitted, and other assistive listening devices such as TV amplifiers, personal loops, and doorbell sensors; and

- A guideline on cerebral palsy in under 25s: assessment and management published in January 2017 noted that at least one in 10 young people need augmentative and alternative communication, and one in 10 cannot use formal methods of augmentative and alternative communication because of cognitive and sensory impairments and communication difficulties.

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