Mr. Geraint Morganasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what assistance he proposes to afford the severely deaf to purchase new hearing aids, in view of his decision to take no further steps to improve the OL66 hearing-aid; whether his Department is able to give such persons advice with regard to the choice of privately-produced hearing aids; and what help will be available to them from his Department for the repair and maintenance of such apparatus.
§ Mr. AlisonThe question of improving the OL66 did not arise. It was originally envisaged as an improvement on the body-worn aids available under the National Health Service but, in the event, proved not to be such. As my right hon. Friend indicated in his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Miss Joan Hall) on 8th May, we are looking into ways of improving the range of hearing aids available through the National Health Service, and472W in this connection, the needs of the severely deaf are much in our minds.
My right hon. Friend has no powers to provide financial assistance towards the purchase and upkeep of hearing aids obtained privately. Advice about private transactions is not a matter for the Department, but hearing aid dispensers on the register of the Hearing Aid Council are required by their code of practice to give the best possible advice they can to their clients regarding hearing aids and their use.—[Vol. 836, c. 280.]