Call to end hearing aid 'scandal'

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The Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) said ministers must do more to "end this scandal" after finding 10 trusts were not treating patients within a year. This is despite the Government's target being 18 weeks.

The worst offender was Kingston-upon-Thames in south-west London where a patient has to wait 125 weeks for an aid after first seeing their GP.

The average wait was 22 weeks in 99 primary care trusts (PCTs) across the country affecting around 28,000 people, according to RNID. The shortest wait was just four weeks and 66 trusts provided treatment within 18 weeks.

The charity said there were nine million people with hearing problems in the UK, adding that the survey was the most comprehensive and up to date

The waits of more than one year in nine other PCTs were - Suffolk (78 weeks), Gloucestershire (72), Tyne and Wear: Washington Health Centre (68), Ealing (67), Havering (64), Tyne & Wear: Sunderland Royal Hospital (62), Shepway (58), Mid Essex (56) and South Tees (54).

RNID called on the Government to take hearing loss seriously and put pressure on local health authorities to bring waiting times down to 18 weeks.

The research was obtained using freedom of information requests and also found that 39% of new patients in England wait for more than a year to get their hearing aids.

RNID director of communications Brian Lamb said: "If you struggle to pick up every word, hearing aids are a lifeline to work, friends and family.

"Despite Government assurances, an 18-week target is a distant dream for thousands of people waiting over a year for their first hearing aid, who are battling isolation and depression because of their hearing loss. RNID wants the Government to do more to end this scandal, by putting pressure on local health chiefs to take hearing health seriously and bring down waiting times."