§ 2. Mr. John Healey (Wentworth)If he will make a statement on plans to improve audiology services and the provision of hearing aids on the national health service. [122860]
§ The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr. John Hutton)We are funding a £4 million project in England which, for the first time, will provide NHS 144 patients with new digital hearing aids. The first wave of 15 NHS trusts, which we announced on 25 May, are expected to start to supply digital aids from September this year. A further five trusts will begin the provision of digital hearing aids from next year.
§ Mr. HealeyHaving once worked for the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, and run the fair hearing campaign 12 years ago to press for better NHS hearing aids, I welcome that reply, and also the news of the pilot schemes.
Is my hon. Friend aware that last year 72 children from the Rotherham area had audiology first appointments at the Sheffield children's hospital, which is running one of the pilot schemes, and that many of those children will in the future benefit from the best technology available?
Is my hon. Friend planning any further pilots in this field? What hope can he give adults in our area that in time they, too, will be able to benefit from a thoroughly modernised NHS audiology service?
§ Mr. HuttonMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is a major modernisation of NHS hearing aid services, and it is only right that NHS patients should have the advantage of the latest technology at the earliest opportunity. I am glad that children from my hon. 'Friend's constituency will be among the first to benefit from the new technology.
We are working closely in partnership with the Royal National Institute for Deaf People. Our partnership with the institute is ground-breaking—it is helping us oversee the monitoring of this project. We hope that as soon as the project is completed, we can discuss the greater availability of digital hearing aids across the national health service, so that the constituents of all right hon. and hon. Members can benefit from the new technology's undoubted benefits.
§ Mr. David Heath (Somerton and Frome)Is not what the hon. Gentleman describes another example of postcode prescribing? If there is new technology that is to the advantage of deaf people, why on earth is it not available across the country to all patients who require it? Is it not the case that technology in this area is advancing all the time, and that deaf people need the assistance of the best possible technology?
§ Mr. HuttonI am very disappointed that the hon. Gentleman has taken that attitude. This is a hugely important modernisation of hearing aid services across the NHS, which has been widely welcomed by the RNID, our key partner in implementing this exciting new project. I stress to the hon. Gentleman and to others who might share his view on these matters that this is new technology. There is every justification for making sure that we prepare the ground for the introduction of that new technology so that the other parts of the NHS can take advantage of it at the earliest possible opportunity.
Of course this is not an example of postcode prescribing—we are trying to get away from that. This is a major modernisation of the NHS, and I greatly regret that the hon. Gentleman cannot bring himself to welcome it.
§ Valerie Davey (Bristol, West)From my constituency, I welcome the Minister's statement. I also welcome the 145 fact that in the south-west, the Bristol royal infirmary will be involved in the second phase of the pilot. Will the new pilots include work for children for whom a hearing impairment in the early years could be especially detrimental?
§ Mr. HuttonI am grateful to my hon. Friend. The NHS trust in her constituency that will participate in the project next year is doing so with children specifically in mind. It is important that the new technology be available to children. The needs of deaf and hearing-impaired children are different from those of adults, so it is important to pilot the project carefully for them. I can assure my hon. Friend that children are at the top of the list of our priorities; they will be among the principal beneficiaries of the new technology. I am sure she will want to give a warm welcome to this project—as will her constituents.
§ Mrs. Caroline Spelman (Meriden)Obviously, we warmly welcome the fact that the NHS is embracing that new technology. However, we urge the Government to accompany it by action to tackle waiting lists. The standard set by the patients charter was for 90 per cent. of patients to receive a hearing test within 13 weeks, but the Audit Commission's recent survey reveals that the average waiting time is 19 weeks; that in one fifth of health authorities, the average wait exceeds six months; and that in some it is 18 months—that is two academic years for children. Does not that make the Government's pledge to reduce waiting and to end regional variation sound absolutely hollow?
§ Mr. HuttonNo, of course it does not. Like the hon. Lady and everyone in this place, we regret the fact that people have to wait for treatment that is urgent and pressing. We are taking a range of initiatives to reduce those waiting times and waiting lists—I am grateful to the hon. Lady for lending some support. However, we should not beat around the bush—the introduction of the new technology is a major advance and development for the NHS. It is only right that patients who use and rely on the NHS—not like the hon. Lady—should have access to the benefits of the new technology at the earliest opportunity.