Hearing Impairment

(asked on 28th March 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the NHS is taking to improve the support provided to deaf people; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
 Portrait
David Mowat
This question was answered on 4th April 2017

In England, clinical commissioning groups are responsible for commissioning the majority of hearing loss services. A small number of specialised services are commissioned nationally by NHS England.

In 2015, the Department and NHS England jointly published the Action Plan on Hearing Loss, which sets out the case for action to tackle the rising prevalence and personal, social and economic costs of uncorrected hearing loss and to address the variation in access and quality of relevant services. The Action Plan sets out key objectives across prevention, early diagnosis, integrated person-centred care, increasing independence and enabling people to partake in everyday activities, including work.

To support the Action Plan, NHS England published, in 2016, a Commissioning Framework for Hearing Loss to ensure a more person centred integrated approach to commissioning and to encourage best practice across hearing loss service commissioners.

The Department has also commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to develop a clinical guideline on the assessment and management of hearing loss in adults; this is expected in May 2018.

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